The Southfield Town Center is a cluster of five interconnected skyscrapers forming a contemporary office complex in the

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

suburb of

Southfield, Michigan Southfield is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the city had a population of 76,618. As a northern suburb of Detroit, Southfield shares part of its ...

. It includes the

Westin Westin Hotels & Resorts is an American upscale hotel chain owned by Marriott International. , the Westin Brand has 226 properties with 82,608 rooms in multiple countries in addition to 58 hotels with 15,741 rooms in the pipeline. History Wester ...

Southfield Detroit Hotel, restaurants, a fitness center, and a major

conference center A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...

for up to 1,000 attendees. This office-hotel complex is situated along Town Center Drive off

M-10 M10, M-10 or M 10 may refer to: Science and technology * Messier 10, a globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus * M10, a Garmin Nüvifone smartphone * Samsung Galaxy M10, a smartphone * M10 (rocket engine), a rocket engine Transportation ...

(Lodge Freeway), across from

Lawrence Technological University Lawrence Technological University (LTU) (Lawrence Tech) is a private university in Southfield, Michigan. It was founded in 1932 in Highland Park, Michigan, as the Lawrence Institute of Technology (LIT) by Russell E. Lawrence. The university move ...

Metro Detroit The Detroit metropolitan area, often referred to as Metro Detroit, is a major metropolitan area in the U.S. State of Michigan, consisting of the city of Detroit and its surrounding area. There are varied definitions of the area, including the ...

, with many of its tallest buildings named after their addresses along the road. Separately, there is a 33-story luxury

residential A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family residen ...

high-rise at 5000 Town Center. The

American Center The American Center is a high-rise tower in the Metro Detroit suburb of Southfield, Michigan, built in 1975 as the corporate headquarters for the automaker American Motors Corporation (AMC), which was subsequently acquired by Chrysler Corporatio ...

, another 26-story office tower near the confluence of

Interstate 696 Interstate 696 (I-696) is an east–west auxiliary Interstate Highway in the Metro Detroit region of the US state of Michigan. The state trunkline highway is also known as the Walter P. Reuther Freeway, named for the prominent auto industr ...

(I-696) and M-10, is not part of the complex. The Town Center is across from the

Civic Centre A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, the ...

, and it is located between West 10 Mile Road and I-696, M-10, and Evergreen Road, as well as being close to the Mixing Bowl. An enclosed two-story

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

atrium Atrium may refer to: Anatomy * Atrium (heart), an anatomical structure of the heart * Atrium, the genital structure next to the genital aperture in the reproductive system of gastropods * Atrium of the ventricular system of the brain * Pulmona ...

connects the hotel with the towers of the Southfield Town Center. The atrium area also contains of retail space.

History

Planners adapted the Town Center location to avoid protected wetland areas. The original route for the I-696 freeway placed it along 10 Mile Road southeast of 11 Mile and Greenfield Roads. Recognizing the value of a large office complex and its tax revenue, city planners built a new city hall complex near 10 Mile Road on the east side of Evergreen. Highway planners re-routed the freeway to run along 11 Mile Road. This delayed construction, but freed up the land to build the first phase, then called the Prudential Town Center (Prudential Life Insurance Company played a major role) with the first skyscraper, 3000 Town Center completed in 1975. A six-lane freeway ramp nearby remained half-completed for about 10 years in order to modify the route to accommodate the massive Town Center project. Additional towers were constructed in 1979, 1983, 1986, 1987, and 1989.

Location

The Southfield Town Center is located diagonally across Evergreen Road and Civic Center Drive (10 Mile Road) from the complex that houses the Southfield City Hall, government offices, courthouse, the contemporary

Southfield Public Library The Southfield Public Library is a public library in Southfield, Michigan. The library serves the communities of Southfield and Lathrup Village. History Library services began for the people living in the Township of Southfield in 1844. The s ...

, a 9-hole public golf course, a city park and dedicated sports areas, a nature trail, an historic farm property, and an indoor ice rink / Olympic-size swimming pool and recreation center.

is directly across

(Lodge Freeway) from the center. A variety of contemporary, high-rise office buildings surround the immediate area. Multiple connecting freeways in the vicinity facilitate its central access to the metro region. The property, which abuts M-10, is from I-696, and it is near M-39 (Southfield Freeway),

I-275 Interstate 275 (I-275) may refer to: *Interstate 275 (Florida), a loop through Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Bradenton in Florida *Interstate 275 (Michigan), a western bypass of Detroit, Michigan *Interstate 275 (Ohio–Indiana–Kentucky), a full belt ...

I-75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from St ...

(Chrysler Freeway), M-1 (Woodward Avenue) and

US Highway 24 U.S. Route 24 (US 24) is one of the original United States highways of 1926. It originally ran from Pontiac, Michigan, in the east to Kansas City, Missouri, in the west. Today, the highway's eastern terminus is in Independence Township, M ...

(Telegraph Road). Residential high-rises and varieties of mid-density housing are within walking distance. The surrounding Southfield area contains single-family homes, many with brick ranch style architecture.

Architecture

The complex is an interconnected cluster of skyscrapers with an ornamental golden glass exterior, each with a different geometric configuration forming a Modern architectural style with

Postmodern Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...

influences. The

Modern Modern may refer to: History * Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Phil ...

styled buildings contain distinctive elements of

High-Tech architecture High-tech architecture, also known as structural expressionism, is a type of late modernist architecture that emerged in the 1970s, incorporating elements of high tech industry and technology into building design. High-tech architecture grew fro ...

. The complex contains fine restaurants and gift shops which support its function as a major conference center. Inside, the

hotel opens to a large enclosed

area which connects the Town Center buildings and is available for catering and large events.

Technical details

Notes

References

* * *

External links

Southfield Town Center web site
* * * * * *
Emporis profile on Southfield Town Center

Emporis profiles on Town Center towers
* {{Hotels in metropolitan Detroit Skyscrapers in Southfield, Michigan Office buildings completed in 1989 Prudential Financial buildings Hotel buildings completed in 1989 Skyscraper office buildings in Michigan Skyscraper hotels in Michigan