Old Wachovia (Big White Bldg) & Diocese Bldg.

[JRNYP2C]

Asking this mostly out of curiosity - and apologize if it has been covered before.

Does anyone have information on the "little" Wachovia building on Carson Blvd. behind Overstock Market? I believe it is the home of the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte. It is the same construction as the original Wachovia building on S. Tryon.

I drive past it every day and have thought about why's, what's and how come's.

Thanks in advance!!

[turbocraig]

I'm glad you asked that. I used to be the unfortunate owner of a Swedish automobile that spent a LOT of time at Baker Auto on Quincy St, right near there. I drove by that building all the time and was so intrigued by the similarity between the White Beast (old Wach) and that little version. It's like they made an extra top for the White Beast and just set it down a few blocks south.

Anybody know if there's some sort of connection?

[rockhilljames]

Yes there is...I think someone mentioned it on the forum awhile back. Apparently the people at the Diocese loved the Wach building and commissioned the architects to build something similar. I think's thats how it went.

Someone else want to jump in here?

[Justadude]

The Observer building is also in the same vein, but on an even "flatter" level. It's a nice little theme on that side of town.

[Miesian Corners]

Asking this mostly out of curiosity - and apologize if it has been covered before.

Does anyone have information on the "little" Wachovia building on Carson Blvd. behind Overstock Market? I believe it is the home of the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte. It is the same construction as the original Wachovia building on S. Tryon.

I drive past it every day and have thought about why's, what's and how come's.

Thanks in advance!!

[Charlotte_native]

I actually like the Diocese building. The view from uptown (on an upper story floor) looks like a huge sugar cube.

[archiham04]

I think that Little and Associates Architects designed both, and many others similar. The word I got from some architects that were around during that time was that Little made a fortune cranking out these office buildings for people. I think the exterior wall is made from an extruded precast concrete unit that makes the construction extremely fast and cost effective. That, together with competitive architectural fees (they must have had a slew of standard details), energy efficiency (tiny windows), and a stylistic preference made it a popular building type.