page_title: Renaissance Center
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Renaissance Center / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: English: GM Renaissance Center from below
context_page_description: The Renaissance Center is a group of seven interconnected skyscrapers in Downtown Detroit, Michigan, United States. The Renaissance Center complex is on the Detroit International Riverfront and is owned by General Motors as its world headquarters. The central tower, the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center, is the third tallest all-hotel skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere. It has been the tallest building in Michigan since it was erected in 1977.
  John Portman was the principal architect for the original design. The first phase consisted of a five tower rosette rising from a common base. Four 39-story office towers surround the 73-story hotel rising from a square-shaped podium which includes a shopping center, restaurants, brokers, and banks. The first phase officially opened in March 1977. Portman's design brought renewed attention to city architecture, since it resulted in construction of the world's tallest hotel at the time. Two additional 21-story office towers opened in 1981. This type of complex has been termed a city within a city.
context_section_description: The centerpiece is the 73-story 727-foot (221.5 m) luxury hotel with 1,246 rooms and 52 suites (1298 total guest rooms). Its height is measured from its main Wintergarden entrance on Atwater Street which faces the International Riverfront where the complex measures 14 feet (4.3 m) taller. Entirely owned by General Motors, the complex has 5,552,000 square feet (515,800 m²) of space. The main Renaissance Center complex rises from a 14-acre (5.7 ha) site. The complex is designed in the modern architectural style with glass as a main material.
  Famous for its cylindrical design, the central hotel tower's diameter is 188 feet (57 m). A lighted glass walkway radiates the mezzanine level and encircles the base of cylindrical hotel tower for ease of navigation. This ringed glass walkway is about 12 feet (3.7 m) wide and has a circumference of approximately 660 feet (200 m) or about one-eighth of a mile around. The ringed walkway's diameter is approximately 210 feet (64 m). It links to several other walkways in the complex. The five-story Wintergarden atrium leads into the central area which has an eight-story atrium lobby with rounded concrete balconies and terraces. Floors 71 through 73 included the Coach Insignia (closed in 2017), an upscale restaurant with a lounge area/observation floor where the view extends for over 30 miles (48.3 km). The hotel has no floors labeled 7, 8, or 13. The hotel features a major conference center with 100,000 square feet (9,300 m²) of meeting space including a Renaissance Ballroom for up to 2,200 guests with 26,000 square feet (2,400 m²) for events, one of the largest in the United States.
  John Portman designed the five-building rosette with interior spaces. In 1977, its central tower opened as the tallest hotel in the world. It remains the tallest all hotel skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere. The smaller cylinders on sides of all the towers house the elevators. The four surrounding 39-story office towers (100–400) each reach 522 feet (159 m) and have a total of 2,200,000 square feet (204,400 m²) of space. Each 39-story tower has a base five-story podium structure with 165,000 square feet (15,300 m²) for retail space for a total of 660,000 square feet (61,000 m²). A portion of the central atrium area houses GM World, a showcase for GM vehicles. Two 21-story towers (500–600), designed by Portman and constructed in 1981, reach 339 feet (103 m). GM gained control of Towers 500 and 600 in 2001. Tower 500 has 307,300 square feet (28,550 m²) of office space and an additional 14,485 square feet (1,350 m²) of retail space. Tower 600 has 304,200 square feet (28,260 m²) of office space and an additional 35,730 square feet (3,320 m²) of retail space.
  Towers 100 and 200 front Jefferson Avenue. Towers 300 and 400 are on the main Wintergarden/Atwater Street entrance facing the Riverfront. The GM Renaissance Conference Center is located on the second floor of tower 300.
  In December 2001, the General Motors unveiled the Wintergarden retail atrium. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, it rises 103 feet (31 m) tall at its highest point opening direct access to the International Riverfront. In addition, the atrium contains 150,000 square feet (14,000 m²) of retail space and 40,000 square feet (3,700 m²) of contiguous main floor exhibit space which was used by the media during Super Bowl XL.
  The design is consistent with the themes of Brutalist architecture, especially in the heavy massing of concrete on the lower floors, but the 2001 renovation has softened those features.
caption: Renaissance Center from Jefferson Avenue
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