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First Hawaiian Bank

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EDITORS' NOTE: 
Due to the recent wildfires on Maui, this entry will be updated as more information becomes available.
1976, Team Pacific, design architect Richard Matsunaga. Wainee and Papalaua sts.
  • (Photograph by Augie Salbosa)
  • (Photograph by Augie Salbosa)
  • (Photograph by Augie Salbosa)

Sited above the road on a grassy terrace with a lava-rock retaining wall, this single-story branch of First Hawaiian Bank hospitably presides over the intersection of Wainee and Papalaua streets. The bank is designed to look like a series of hipped-roof pavilions connected by flat-roofed modules. It makes a distinctly local statement with its spacious porticos, lava-rock pillars, and colonial-style multipane windows. Lava-rock piers recur on the interior, contrasting with the stark modernity of the banking hall. The mural behind the teller cages softens the decor, while the pyramidal ceiling opens the space.

The building's architect, Richard Matsunaga (1928–2002), was born on the island of Hawaii. He worked for Lemmon, Freeth, Haines and Jones, and started his own offce in 1964. In 1976 he formed Team Pacific, which in turn became Richard Matsunaga and Associates. The firm designed a number of branch banks for First Hawaiian, including those next to the Kahala Mall in Honolulu and Pearl Ridge Shopping Center in Pearl City on Oahu. More recently they designed the C-17 Squadron Operation Building and C-17 Flight Simulator Building (2004) on Hickam Air Force Base outside Honolulu.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Don J. Hibbard
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Data

Timeline

  • 1976

    Built

What's Nearby

Wo Hing Society Hall
Lahaina United Methodist Church
Office Building (Seaman's Hospital)
Dwight Baldwin House
Lahaina Public Library

Citation

Don J. Hibbard, "First Hawaiian Bank", [Lahaina, Hawaii], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/HI-01-MA32.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Hawaii

Buildings of Hawaii, Don J. Hibbard. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2011, 206-206.

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