Guardian Building
Detroit’s “Cathedral of Finance” rises 43 stories in polychrome brick and blazing Pewabic tile — Wirt Rowland’s 1929 Art Deco tower is among the most ornate skyscrapers ever built in the United States.
At a glance
The Guardian Building stands in downtown Detroit’s financial district as one of the great monuments of American Art Deco. Built from 1928 to 1929 and originally called the Union Trust Building, the 43-story tower was designed by Wirt C. Rowland of Smith, Hinchman & Grylls and is a bold example of Art Deco architecture incorporating Mayan Revival motifs. Its three-story vaulted lobby is lavishly decorated with Pewabic and Rookwood tile, its exterior sheathed in specially commissioned polychrome brick that its manufacturer eventually marketed as “Guardian brick.” The building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989 and is currently owned by Wayne County, Michigan.
Key facts
- Built: 1928–1929
- Architect: Wirt C. Rowland, Smith, Hinchman & Grylls
- Style: Art Deco with Mayan Revival motifs
- Height: 43 stories; roof at 496 ft (151 m); spire at 632 ft (192.6 m)
- National Historic Landmark: June 29, 1989
- Nickname: “Cathedral of Finance”
- Address: 500 Griswold Street, Detroit
- Owner: Wayne County, Michigan
History
The Union Trust Company commissioned the building to establish its dominance over Detroit’s financial district at the peak of the city’s industrial prosperity. Wirt Rowland had already demonstrated his Art Deco ambitions with earlier work in the city, but the Guardian Building represented his most complete statement: a structure where the decorative program was not applied to a conventional cage frame but emerged from the structural logic of the building itself. Rowland specified Monel metal — an alloy then unusual in building construction — for all exposed metalwork, an innovation subsequently adopted in the Chrysler Building in New York.
The building’s nickname, “Cathedral of Finance,” played on its resemblance to a Gothic cathedral: a tower over the main entrance, an octagonal apse at the opposite end, and an interior whose vaulted lobby and ceramic program gave it the solemn grandeur of a nave. Native American themes ran through both interior and exterior ornament — a reflection of Rowland’s interest in non-European decorative traditions at a moment when Art Deco was drawing from Aztec, Maya, and Ancient Egyptian sources worldwide.
The Union Trust Company collapsed during the Depression, and the building passed through several ownerships before Wayne County acquired it. The building’s extraordinary ceramic program was the work of Mary Chase Perry Stratton of Pewabic Pottery and the Rookwood Pottery of Cincinnati; Stratton worked closely with Rowland in designing the symbolic decorations, creating a ceramic environment unique among American skyscrapers.
What you see
The exterior ascends through registers of polychrome brick — a warm orange-tan that Rowland selected from hundreds of samples and that the manufacturer ultimately named after the building itself. Limestone and terra cotta bands organize the upper floors, and the two asymmetric spires at the crown give the building its distinctive silhouette against the Detroit skyline. The Griswold Street entrance is flanked by two sculptures by Corrado Parducci, whose carved work appears across the facade.
The three-story vaulted lobby is among the most remarkable interior spaces in American commercial architecture. Pewabic tile covers the semi-circular exterior domes; the lobby surfaces are further enriched by Rookwood tile and a Monel metal screen that separates the banking hall from the main floor, featuring a Tiffany-designed clock at its center. Murals by Ezra Winter line the banking hall — one a large mosaic of a pine tree, another depicting Michigan’s industries: manufacturing, farming, and mining. The building’s elevator system was the first to automatically level with the floor and open its doors, a technology that became standard across the industry.
Practical information
- Access: Lobby and public areas accessible during business hours
- Tours: Architectural tours available; check Wayne County / Guardian Building schedule
- Photography: Exterior unrestricted; interior by arrangement
- Best time: Daytime for natural light in the vaulted lobby; exterior detail best in morning light
- Time needed: 45–60 minutes for lobby and exterior
Getting there
The Guardian Building is at 500 Griswold Street in downtown Detroit’s financial district. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) is approximately 20 miles southwest. The building is a short walk from the QLine streetcar stops on Woodward Avenue and from the People Mover at Financial District station. GPS: 42.32972°N, 83.04583°W.
Nearby
- Penobscot Building (1928) — fellow Art Deco skyscraper in Detroit’s financial district
- Detroit Riverfront — public promenade along the Detroit River, 10-minute walk south
- Campus Martius Park — central downtown gathering space, one block north
- Fisher Building (1928) — another Art Deco National Historic Landmark by Albert Kahn, New Center area
Sources
- Wikipedia: Guardian Building
- National Park Service, National Historic Landmark: June 29, 1989
- Tottis, James W. The Guardian Building: Cathedral of Finance. Wayne State University Press, 2008
- Smith, Michael G. Designing Detroit: Wirt Rowland and the Rise of Modern American Architecture. Wayne State University Press, 2017
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