MOBILE MAP STOPS 79 – 82

79 – Four Seasons Retirement Center

Four Seasons is a retirement community with assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing care. Located on 25 acres of landscaped grounds, there are 78 residential one-level style apartments with vaulted ceilings, large windows, private patio, bath, and kitchen.

Every apartment opens into a corridor connecting the 12 wings, each of which has a lounge area. Transom windows at the and of each corridor provide natural light. Centrally located in the complex is an A-framed brick and shingle chapel, peaked with a skylight and ball housing.

The spacious dining area is located under a large skylight that provides a pleasant atmosphere, including natural interior plantings.

Take me to Four Seasons

80 – First Financial Bank

Dwell magazine said “it may be the most refined bank branch in the world.”

The 4,000-square-foot structure, designed by Deborah Berke & Partners Architects, holds its own among superstores and parking lots. Suspended circular lamps and recessed fixtures bounce light off the white walls and the main lobby’s vaulted ceiling while lit glass roof panels give the exterior a bold glow. In Berke’s words, “It’s a modernist building, but it’s absolutely inextricably linked to this site in relation to visibility.”

The clean lines and bright lighting of Eero Saarinen’s downtown Irwin Union Bank and Trust design carried over to Berke’s vision for the new bank building (formerly Irwin Union Bank and Trust). The drive-through banking treatment floats above the masonry building, a translucent “light box” which allows natural light to filter down into the banking hall.

Owing to quality of this glass, the “Light Box” also glows outwardly as an ambiguous sculptural object that is neither building nor sign. It floats in the air, lending the new bank building a steady, quietly elegant presence that serves as a counterpoint to the heavy, sprawling “big box” retail buildings nearby.

Berke, currently Dean and Professor at Yale School of Architecture, also designed the Hope library branch.

Take me to First Financial, Creekview.

81 – Columbus East High School

Columbus East High School was designed by Mitchell-Giurgola Architects in 1972. The sleek building is sandwiched in a white skin and rests on 52 acres. The large brick entries define the courtyard spaces and emphasize the role of the entry.

The architects were challenged by the school administration to design a high school building to fit a flexible program.

The school program emphasizes individual study with faculty guidance, and the open floor plan reflects the concept that exposure to other subjects will generate wider interests.

The AIA (American Institute of Architects) gave the building an Honor award in 1975, one of five recognized in Columbus by the AIA.

Take me to Columbus East High School.

82 – Columbus Signature Academy / Fodrea

Paul Kennon, of Caudill Rowlett Scott, designed the building in 1973 as a “people-centered” school. It was one of the first schools in the country to serve the dual purpose of education and as a gathering place for the community. It offers elementary education, recreation, and community-civic organization space.

As with other Columbus elementary schools, Fodrea was named for educators in the school system – Hazel, Bessie, and Mabel Fodrea were three sisters who taught in the school system.

Take me to Fodrea School.

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