Blue Cross Blue Shield Service Center

Contributors:
A.G. Odell, architect; A. G. Odell Jr. Associates, architects; Charles McMurray, project architect
Dates:

1973

Location:
Durham, Orange County
Street Address:

NC 15/501 (Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard)

Status:

Standing

Type:

Commercial

Images Published In:

Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Piedmont North Carolina (2003).

Note:

Still a stunning landmark on a busy thoroughfare, the 4-story glass-walled building is 400 feet wide and 100 feet deep and takes a rhomboid form with its upper 3 stories set at 45 degrees. The client wanted a glass building but knew the problems of such a building in the hot and sunny climate. To mitigate the summer sun, the architect designed the angle of the southern and western walls and employed tinted, sky-reflecting glass.