The Citizen
The Citizen is an office-led scheme designed by the architect, who has leased space within and designed all the fit-outs of this 200,000 sqft development. From its inception, the project has aimed to promote civic discourse by bringing disparate people together in this modern-day forum. Sitting across the street from the Oklahoma City National Memorial, the generous ground floor volume is set back to extend the urban realm deep into the building, and a banking hall and restaurant engage with the building foyer to further activate and enliven the entrance. Above, a diverse blend of uses includes co-working space, a members’ club, a hotel, tech start-up incubator, culminating with offices at the upper levels. The robust and high-volume space with expressed concrete structure and services is designed to be flexible in use and for future adaptability. The tall windows cast natural light deep into the floorplate and maximize the views over the city. Vertical circulation is banked to the perimeter of the building, which at lower levels abuts a neighbouring parking garage, but at higher levels affords the staircases and office lobbies with a magnificent over Broadway and the east of the city; doors to the staircase are held open to make it a conspicuous feature of the lobby, promoting its use for shorter journeys in place of the elevators, and expressing the movement of people within the building on the outside. Neighbouring 1930s architecture was used as the springing point for the exterior expression of The Citizen, which takes the prevailing vertical emphasis and characteristic paired window configuration of the art deco towers and reinvents the language to suit contemporary aluminium and glass unitized cladding (a system being used here for the first time in Oklahoma City). Regular projecting vertical fins afford a depth and solidity to the otherwise economical skin and vary the appearance of the building strikingly from different vantage points, particularly at different times of the day as sunlight, shadow, and reflections track across the façade. Like its historical antecedents, the rigor of the street-fronting elevations is broken at the party wall condition, where a more playful composition of porthole windows expresses the stairs, elevators, and restrooms. With its well-mannered exterior, its acknowledgement of the past but design for the future, and its varied offering of public and private functions, the building itself is conceived as a citizen of the city.
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Open in Atlas MapFrequently Asked Questions
How long does the Oklahoma architecture walking tour take?+
The self-guided walking tour covers approximately 261.1 km with 4 stops. Allow approximately 59 hours including 20 minutes of viewing time per building.
Is the Oklahoma architecture tour free?+
Yes, this is a completely free self-guided walking tour. You can view the route on the interactive map, export it to Google Maps for navigation, and explore at your own pace.
Do I need to book the Oklahoma architecture tour in advance?+
No booking is required — this is a self-guided tour that you can start at any time. All buildings can be viewed from the outside. For guided tours with expert commentary, we recommend checking GetYourGuide for local architecture tours.
What is the best time to do the Oklahoma architecture walking tour?+
Morning light (before 11am) is ideal for photography of building facades. Weekdays tend to be less crowded around commercial buildings. Allow a full half day for the complete tour.