The Guardian Building

The Guardian Building earned its nickname, “Cathedral of Finance,” the moment you walk into its three-story vaulted lobby — a riot of Pewabic and Rookwood tile, a Tiffany & Co. glass clock, and an Ezra Winter mural, all wrapped in Native American-inspired motifs designed by architect Wirt C. Rowland. Completed in 1929 for the Union Trust Company, it’s built from 1.8 million bricks in a custom shade that came to be called “Guardian brick,” making it, unusually for a skyscraper of its era, clad in masonry rather than granite or limestone.

The lobby and promenade are free and open to the public daily, with a cafe, a Pure Detroit shop, and a Bank of America branch tucked inside — genuinely one of the only ways to casually wander through a National Historic Landmark on your lunch break. City Tour Detroit runs guided hour-long tours a few days a week for anyone who wants access to normally off-limits spaces like the old bank vaults.

On our radar for the best free architecture stop in downtown Detroit, or for five minutes of genuinely jaw-dropping ceiling to break up a day of meetings nearby.