Albuquerque Plaza, Albuquerque

Albuquerque Plaza, also known as the WaFd Bank Building, is a high-rise skyscraper situated on the south side of Civic Plaza in Downtown Albuquerque. The tower, designed by Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum Architects, is part of a two-tower complex, with the taller of the two towers standing at 107 meters (351 feet) tall and containing class-A office space, with a roughly square plan and angular projections. The two towers are connected by a two-story promenade with retail space, with the shorter Hyatt Regency Albuquerque hotel tower located adjacent to the main tower. With 22 stories, Albuquerque Plaza is the tallest building in New Mexico. The two towers are the focal point of the Albuquerque skyline, featuring similar heights, colors, and pyramidal roofs.

At the building's main entrance is a bronze sculpture called "Sidewalk Society" by Glenna Goodacre, commissioned by the building's developer and unveiled in 1991. The sculpture depicts nine life-sized people engaged in various activities on the street corner and has attracted some criticism for its racial politics, particularly a scene depicting a Hispanic man with a hard hat being given instructions by a white supervisor, although the overall reception of the work has been positive.

The development of Albuquerque Plaza was initiated by BetaWest Properties, a commercial real estate subsidiary of US West, who were planning a new office tower to replace the old Mountain Bell building, which was built in 1953 as a Fedway department store and had the state's first escalator. Concurrently, the city was planning a major expansion of the Albuquerque Convention Center and convinced BetaWest to include a luxury hotel in the proposed development. Construction began in 1988 with the demolition of the Mountain Bell building and was completed in 1990.

In 2002, the Bank of Albuquerque Tower received the prestigious "Office Building of the Year" accolade, an award that factors in energy conservation as a key criterion in its evaluation process.