Washington Federal Savings & Loan (1962)

The Bank Building & Equipment Corporation’s architect William F. Cann designed an eye-catching, small round building for Washington Federal Savings & Loan in Nampa, Idaho.  A clean design of two-stories begins with a grid of dark tinted windows rising up to a flat, round, deeply cantilevered roof.  The roof is supported by thin, concrete support arms in an upside-down L shape that stand at a slight separation from the building.  A tall concrete post at the corner hoists the new bank’s sign prominently above the hovering roofline.

The Bank Building & Equipment Corporation had completed a signature round design for the Catholic Chancery in St. Louis, Missouri only one year before.  That design by W.A. Sarmiento was likely the predecessor to this bank, though it was more intricate in details and used a different quality of materials.  However, the structural support arms on this bank building are seen on later structures as well, though in slightly different forms, such as the cantilevered roof of the National Bank of Commerce in Columbus, Mississippi.  This bank building was also the likely predecessor to the more refined design seen in San Jose, California for the First National Bank in 1963.

Research and photo credit:  Elizabeth Jacox