Park Row Building
The Park Row Building, also known as 15 Park Row, is a luxury apartment building and early skyscraper on Park Row in the Financial District of the New York City borough of Manhattan. The, 31-story building was designed by R. H. Robertson, a pioneer in steel skyscraper design, and engineered by the firm of Nathaniel Roberts. The Park Row Building includes 26 full floors, a partial 27th floor, and a pair of four-story cupolas. The architectural detail on the facade includes large columns and pilasters, as well as numerous ornamental overhanging balconies. J. Massey Rhind sculpted several ornamental details on the building, including the balconies and several figures atop the building.
The Park Row Building was developed by the Park Row Construction Company as an office building between 1897 and 1899. It used a steel frame and elevators to make it one of the world's tallest buildings at the time. It was constructed over a period of two years and nine months. Upon completion, about 4,000 people worked at the Park Row Building, with tenants such as the Associated Press and the Interborough Rapid Transit Company. Until the completion of the Singer Building in 1908, it was the city's tallest building and the world's tallest office building. The Park Row Building was used as an office structure until the early 2000s, when it was converted to residential use. Today, the Park Row Building consists of 339 luxury apartment units, two penthouse apartments, ground floor retail, and office suites located in the building's historic cupola space.
Upon its completion, the Park Row Building received praise from the general public, although architectural critics reviewed the building more harshly. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission gave city landmark status to the Park Row Building in 1999, and the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
Site
The Park Row Building is in the Financial District of Manhattan, just south of New York City Hall, City Hall Park, and the Civic Center. Its primary address is 15 Park Row, but its other addresses include 13–21 Park Row, 13 Ann Street, and 3 Theatre Alley. The Park Row Building is bounded on the west by Park Row, on the south by Ann Street, and on the east by Theatre Alley; the main facade on Park Row is situated midway between Ann Street to the south and Beekman Street to the north. The building is situated on an irregularly shaped land lot, with none of the three facades connected to each other. The Park Row Building's original developers had been unable to acquire the corner lots at Ann Street and Park Row and at Ann Street and Theatre Alley.The building has a frontage of on Park Row, on Ann Street, and on Theatre Alley. The base of the building covers a land area of approximately. It is immediately adjacent to 25 Park Row to the northeast. Other nearby buildings include 5 Beekman Street to the east, the Woolworth Building to the north, St. Paul's Chapel to the west, and the Bennett Building to the south. In addition, 41 Park Row, 150 Nassau Street, the Morse Building, and the Potter Building are across Beekman Street to the northeast.
Architecture
The building was designed by R. H. Robertson, a pioneer in steel skyscraper design, and engineered by the firm of Nathaniel Roberts. Roberts's chief draftsman, George Shea Dayton, was also highly involved in the design. John Downey was hired as the general contractor; T. P. Galligan was the foundation contractor; J,B. & J.M. Cornell were the iron contractors; and Dawson and Archer were the masonry contractors. The total cost to build the skyscraper was $2.4–2.75 million.The building has 26 full floors, a partial 27th floor, and a pair of four-story towers on the 28th through 31st floors. It has a total height of. Counting the flagpoles that were formerly installed atop the towers, the total height upon the building's completion was, making it one of the world's tallest buildings at the time. There were also two basement levels. This gives the building a total of 33 habitable levels.
Form and facade
The ground level of 15 Park Row occupies its entire lot. However, the center of the southwestern elevation contains a light court so the upper floors resemble a backward, warped "E", with the "spine" running along the northeastern facade. Another light court to the east faces the corner of Theatre Alley and Ann Street. The two four-story towers are capped with copper-clad domes. The design is reminiscent of the double-towered Baroque churches of Europe, as well as the church of the Monastery of São Vicente da Fora of Lisbon. The towers were easily distinguished on the city's 20th-century skyline.The facade contains decorative elements only on the elevations facing Park Row and Ann Street. Due to its location along the middle of the block on Park Row, the building was designed with elements of both a freestanding tower and an infill building. The vast majority of the decoration is concentrated on the main elevation along Park Row. This elevation is divided into several horizontal groups, each containing up to five stories. The 3rd through 5th floors have granite cladding, while the 6th through 26th stories have terracotta, light-brick, and limestone cladding. The other elevations have plain red brick and window openings. The first and second floors on Park Row were initially clad with granite as well, but were replaced with bronze and glass in 1930. Because of the modification, the "base" of the Park Row elevation is perceived as containing either two or five stories.
Park Row elevation
The Park Row elevation is split into three vertical sections. The outer sections, or "end pavilions", each contain two window openings on the first through fourth stories, and three openings on the fifth story and above. The inner section is split into five bays with a single window on each bay, and above the fifth story, is slightly recessed behind the outer sections.The first and second stories are largely a commercial storefront with bronze-and-glass infill, though two granite Doric-style pilasters from the original design remain extant, at the extreme outer ends of this elevation. The rest of the first and second stories was originally articulated with Doric pilasters and columns. The main entrance is composed of three glass-and-bronze doors underneath a glass-and-bronze transom, within a black Belgian granite surround. The first- and second-story facade to either side of the main entrance is slightly asymmetrical, with two pilasters to the north and three to the south. Secondary entrances also exist on either side of the main entrance. Bronze, gilded spandrels separate the first and second stories. A granite Doric cornice runs above the second story.
The third and fourth stories are clad with rusticated limestone. These floors both contain nine bays, and there is a belt course separating these stories. There are four large console brackets outside the third story, supporting large female figures on the fourth story; these brackets flank the third-outermost windows on either side. The brackets were designed by J. Massey Rhind and depict several facets of commerce. A small balustrade runs above the five center bays on the fourth story. The fifth story is clad with smooth limestone and has a large cornice with a frieze above it. There are recessed panels flanking the end pavilions on the fifth story, as well as between each of the five center bays on that story.
Above the fifth story, the end pavilions are clad with brick that is patterned to look like rusticated stone. On the end pavilions, there are balconies on the 10th, 18th, and 27th floors, each supported by four brackets and highly ornamented. Keystones above the 10th story windows of the end pavilions are ornamented with lions' heads. In the center section, terracotta pedestals separate each bay of the 6th story, supporting pilasters that span the 7th through 9th stories. Pilasters also separate each of the center bays on the 11th–13th, 14th–16th, and 18th–21st floors, while rectangular panels separate the 17th-floor center windows; each set of pilasters is separated by friezes. Angled balconies extend from the center bay on the 11th and 23rd floors. A decorative band extends horizontally between the 22nd and 23rd floors. The windows on the 23rd floor contain thick pedestals that support terracotta Doric columns spanning the 24th through 26th stories. A cornice with lions'-heads ornamentation rises above the 26th story. There is a 27th story above the center section topped with sheet-copper balls. The 27th story contains no ornamentation other than engaged columns between brick walls, and contains a round addition above it. The ceiling of the 27th story is lower within the towers than in the space between the towers.
Towers
Above the end pavilions are a pair of circular four-story towers spanning the 28th through 30th stories. Both towers have three visible stories, as well as a fourth story in cupolas that surmount both towers. On each tower, there are cornices above the 29th story, as well as four octagonal piers, one at each corner, supporting the 30th-story dome. The piers separate the towers into four sides, each of which contains three bays. The bays are separated by Corinthian brick pilasters ornamented with terracotta capitals, while the floors are separated by terracotta spandrels. Both domes have oculus windows and a copper-domed cupola on the 31st story. There are eight sheet-copper caryatids and 16 figures on the towers that are attributed to Rhind. The tops of the towers both formerly supported one-story-tall finials.Other elevations
The Ann Street elevation is wide. At ground level is a service entrance with Doric pilasters on each side and a wave molding above it. There are two windows on the second floor with a Doric pilaster between them, and a cornice and frieze above the 2nd floor. There are rusticated limestone blocks on the 3rd through 5th floors, which have two windows each, and a molding above the fifth floors. On the 6th through 27th floors, there are three windows on each floor and balconies on the 10th, 18th, and 27th floors.The remaining elevations, which are made of brick and contain very little ornamentation, are visible from the street. The northern elevation contained many window openings nearer the Park Row side and fewer nearer the Theatre Alley side. The southern and eastern elevations, as well as the light court facing southwest, have single, double, or triple windows set within a bare brick facade. These elevations were originally painted in a cream color, the same color as the Park Row and Ann Street facades. Eight steel beams, each with a depth of, span the light court.