Executive Plaza Office Building (Flashcube Apartments)

The Executive Plaza Office Building was constructed between 1972 to 1974, and it represents the architectural evolution of the Modern Movement curtain wall. The building's glass curtain wall appears as one continuous piece of glass as each of the glass panels are part of a continuous and repetitive grid pattern that does not correspond with the structure's frame or individual floors. Still unique in 1974, this exterior design grew exceptionally popular by the 1980s. The building was given the nickname "Flashcube" because its appearance resembles the once-ubiquitous flash cubes found on film cameras during the late twentieth century. The building was home to offices for most of its first three decades until vacancies led to a renovation project that began in the late 2010s that supported the building's transition into an apartment complex.

Construction of the Executive Plaza Office Building occurred despite heavy migration away from downtown and to the suburbs during the 1950s and 1960s, creating a significant downturn in downtown construction by the 1970s. Indeed, disinvestment far outweighed development in downtown Kansas City. The service industry nearly fled downtown completely; very few restaurants or entertain men venues operated downtown by the 1970s. Nevertheless, The Executive Plaza Office Building construction was part of a redevelopment effort sponsored by the Downtown Redevelopment Corporation, which spearheaded the construction of six buildings in the immediate vicinity of, and including, the Executive Plaza Office Building between the late 1950s and the early 1970s. The Plaza design included a rooftop heliport intended to transport visitors from the new Kansas City International Airport, then under development, but that feature was never constructed.

One reason occupants of buildings like the Executive Plaza embraced the fluid glass design was because the style strongly expressed the notion of modernity. The distinct glass-centric design strays from the decades-old concept of tying the structure to the exterior's curtain wall. The abundance of reflective glass panels does not match the building's skeleton. The simple glass curtain wall requires no ornamentation as the glass provides a dramatic visual experience. Indeed, it initially presents to an onlooker as one large piece of glass rather than glass segments before one notices the repeating glass squares. The glass container style became ubiquitous by the 1980s and 1990s, but when the building opened in 1974, it still represented as a part of an early, progressive form of architectural design. 

For the architects to achieve their aesthetic goals, they needed to develop innovative building techniques, such as installing reflective glass to accommodate the building's air conditioning needs. The builders took advantage of technological advances in glass production and stronger glass walls. That allowed for newer curtain walls to steer visually away from the skeleton-and-skin relationship of frames holding glass toward a fluid membrane appearance. 

The original plan consisted of developing an office building that could be rented to a variety of tenants, but Bancshare, a banking holding company for Commerce Bank branches, ultimately occupied the entire building and remained the building's owner for thirty years. The building stood mainly vacant after 2006 until a renovation project in the late 2010s allowed it to transition into an apartment complex. The distinctive design presented renovators with unique issues such as broken seals and small cracks in the glass which allowed moisture to infiltrate the insulated glazing unit. Years of patchwork fixes resulted in various shades of blue, green, and pink glass, taking away from the original design; and as a result, the decision was made to replace the entire exterior. Today, the fully renovated building is known as Flashcube Luxury Apartments.

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Rachel and Sophie Roark. "Registration Form: Executive Plaza Office Building." National Register of Historic Places. nps.gov. 2017. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/289f4d13-5657-4406-9307-9175c56538eb.

"A Rich History and Culture." Historic Kansas City. historickansascity.org. Accessed September 3, 2022. https://www.historickansascity.org/kansas-city/.