Rainier Tower

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title: "Rainier Tower" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["skyscraper-office-buildings-in-seattle", "buildings-and-structures-in-downtown-seattle", "bank-of-america-buildings", "bank-of-america-legacy-banks", "nbbj-buildings", "office-buildings-completed-in-1977", "minoru-yamasaki-buildings", "1977-establishments-in-washington-(state)"] description: "41-story skyscraper in Seattle, Washington" topic_path: "general/skyscraper-office-buildings-in-seattle" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainier_Tower" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 41-story skyscraper in Seattle, Washington ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox building"]

Field	Value
name	Rainier Tower
image	Rainier Tower Seattle Washington.jpg
image_size	250px
former_names	Rainier Bank Tower (1977–89)
Security Pacific Tower (1989–95)
alternate_names	Rainier Square
location	1301 Fifth Avenue
Seattle, Washington
coordinates
map_type	Seattle WA Downtown
map_caption	Location within downtown Seattle
completion_date	1977
building_type	Commercial offices
roof	156.67 m
floor_count	41
2 below ground
elevator_count	13
floor_area	538000 sqft
architect	Minoru Yamasaki
NBBJ
structural_engineer	Magnusson Klemencic Associates
owner	Unico Properties
references
::

| name = Rainier Tower | image = Rainier Tower Seattle Washington.jpg | image_size = 250px | caption = | former_names = Rainier Bank Tower (1977–89) Security Pacific Tower (1989–95) | alternate_names = Rainier Square | location = 1301 Fifth Avenue Seattle, Washington | coordinates = | map_type = Seattle WA Downtown | map_caption = Location within downtown Seattle | completion_date = 1977 | building_type = Commercial offices | antenna_spire = | roof = 156.67 m | top_floor = | floor_count = 41 2 below ground | elevator_count = 13 | cost = | floor_area = 538000 sqft | architect = Minoru Yamasaki NBBJ | structural_engineer= Magnusson Klemencic Associates | main_contractor = | developer = | owner = Unico Properties | management = | references =

Rainier Tower is a 41-story, 156.67 m skyscraper in the Metropolitan Tract of Seattle, Washington, at 1301 Fifth Avenue. It was designed by Minoru Yamasaki, who designed the World Trade Center in New York City as well as the IBM Building, which is on the corner across the street from Rainier Tower to the southeast. Its construction was completed in 1977.

The skyscraper has an unusual appearance, being built atop an 11-story, 37 m concrete pedestal base that tapers towards ground level, like an inverted pyramid. Architect Yamasaki chose the design in order to preserve the greenery of downtown Seattle and allow more ground space to be devoted to a retail shopping plaza.

Beneath the tower was Rainier Square, an underground shopping mall connecting with One Union Square, which is owned by the University of Washington (UW). This shopping center was demolished in 2017. Both the mall and tower were originally named after Rainier Bank, which was merged in the 1980s into Security Pacific, which was eventually merged into Bank of America. The tower was named after Security Pacific in 1989 until UW chose to rename it back to the more familiar "Rainier Tower" in 1995.

Locals often refer to it as the "Beaver Building" as its physical appearance looks like a tree being felled by a beaver. It had also been referred to as the "golf tee" building.

In 2015, the University of Washington proposed the Rainier Square Tower, an 850 ft mixed-use tower, to occupy space on the same block as the Rainier Tower. Construction began in September 2017, and completed in 2020.

References

References

1. {{CTBUH. 3568
2. "Emporis building ID 119487". [[Emporis]].
3. {{SkyscraperPage. 3542
4. {{Structurae. 20027203
5. (September 23, 1995). "It's A New (Old) Song: Rainier Tower Gets Its Name Back". The Seattle Times.
6. Woodridge, Sally B.. (1980). "A Guide to Architecture in Washington State". University of Washington Press.
7. "Rainier Tower".
8. "PCAD - Marine Bancorporation, Rainier National Bank, Headquarters Building, Downtown, Seattle, WA".
9. (2015). "Yamasaki in Detroit : a Search for Serenity". [Wayne State University Press].
10. Bhatt, Sanjay. (October 3, 2013). "UW has big plans for its prime downtown Seattle real estate". [[The Seattle Times]].
11. Glenn R. Pascall. (May 8, 1998). "Too Big To Fail – To Too Big To Succeed?". The Puget Sound Business Journal.
12. (June 2017). "Lonely Planet Pocket Seattle". [[Lonely Planet]].
13. "Rainier Square Bank Tower". Yamasaki Inc..
14. "Rainier Square Hotel". Emporis.
15. "Rainier Square - The Skyscraper Center".
16. "Rainier Square Tower".
17. Russel Fortmeyer. (May 1, 2021). "Rainier Square by NBBJ". [[Architectural Record]].
18. Brian Miller. (August 5, 2021). "400 University is done, says Wright Runstad, and ready for tenants". [[Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::