Chase Bank, Pomona | Los Angeles Conservancy
Photo courtesy Architectural Resources Group

Chase Bank, Pomona

Built to house the new Pomona branch of Home Savings and Loan in 1963, this six-story office tower is among the largest and most unique architectural designs ever completed by Millard Sheets.

It was developed as an anchor for the adjacent pedestrian mall, also designed by Sheets and recognized today as the first pedestrian mall west of the Mississippi. Both the bank building and the mall were the result of postwar urban revitalization efforts in downtown Pomona.

The Home Savings Tower is like many of Sheets' other Home Savings designs in its simple rectangular plan, strict symmetry and integration of site-specific artwork, but its vertical orientation and overall scale set it apart. This is a texturally rich statement of monumentality and stability, for the city of Pomona as well as the bank, rendered in concrete, travertine, and glass. The building's most notable feature is its sculptural concrete grillwork, which alternates with panels of exposed aggregate concrete to highlight the design's verticality.

The grillwork's pattern looks like an abstract lace, but is actually a series of "H"s and "S"s woven together for "Home Savings."

This remarkable building is currently owned by Chase.

Glendale Federal Savings
Photo courtesy Architectural Resources Group

Glendale Federal Savings, Glendale

Peruvian-born architect W. A. Sarmiento designed hundreds of Modern-style bank buildings all over the country, but one of the most renowned and best-loved is right in Glendale.
Herman Miller Showroom
Photo courtesy Architectural Resources Group

Herman Miller Showroom

Charles and Ray Eames designed only a small number of buildings, and even fewer were ever built. One of the few remaining is the Herman Miller Showroom on Beverly Boulevard in West Hollywood.