Project Description

Tulsa was flush with oil money in 1918. This ceiling is where some of it went.

The lobby of the Mid-Continent Building in downtown Tulsa is a masterpiece of early 20th century commercial interior design — and this stained glass ceiling is the reason you stop walking the moment you step through the door. Cobalt blue, warm gold, and ivory white arranged in an Art Nouveau-influenced geometric pattern that fills the entire ceiling with light and color. Paired with the veined marble walls, ornate bronze lanterns, and gilded elevator surrounds below, the whole composition reads less like a building lobby and more like a jewel box.

Tulsa’s Art Deco heritage is well documented, but the Mid-Continent Building predates that era and shows what the city was reaching for even before the oil boom hit full stride. The ambition was there from the beginning. The craftsmanship proves it.

They don’t build lobbies like this anymore. They probably couldn’t afford to.