801 Grand

801 Grand is a 190-meter postmodern office tower in downtown Des Moines and the tallest building in the state of Iowa, completed in 1991 after two years of construction. It was designed by the prominent architecture firm Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum (HOK) and rises 40 floors above the city center. Its copper-tile roof holds a curious unfulfilled ambition: designers expected it to develop the same green patina seen on the Statue of Liberty over time. However, the low salt content of Des Moines' inland air has stalled the oxidation process, leaving the roof in a muted bronze tone decades later. The building functions as a standard office tower with no public observation deck.