Morse Building
The Morse Building, also known as the Nassau–Beekman Building and 140 Nassau Street, is a residential building in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City, at the northeast corner of Nassau and Beekman Streets. The Morse Building, designed by Benjamin Silliman Jr. and James M. Farnsworth, contains elements of the Victorian Gothic, Neo-Grec, and Rundbogenstil style.
The Morse Building uses polychrome brickwork and terracotta cladding to highlight its fenestration. Its interior structure consists of a steel frame placed upon a foundation that descends to an underlying layer of sand. The Morse Building was developed by G. Livingston and Sidney E. Morse, nephews of telegraph inventor Samuel F. B. Morse and sons of the site's previous owners. It was constructed from June 1878 to March 1880 and was one of the tallest buildings in New York City when completed, standing at with ten stories. As completed, the building had 175 offices and modern amenities such as steam heat and gas lighting.
Bannister & Schell altered the building significantly in 1901–1902 to an Edwardian Neo-Classical style, bringing the building to 14 stories and. Around 1965, the base was modified again and the balcony and cornice were removed. After a failed redevelopment attempt in the 1970s, it became a residential building in 1980, with 39 apartments. The building was designated a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2006. The Morse Building is also a contributing property to the Fulton–Nassau Historic District, a National Register of Historic Places district created in 2005.
Site
The Morse Building is in the Financial District of Manhattan, just east of New York City Hall, City Hall Park, and the Civic Center. It is bounded on the west by Nassau Street, on the south by Beekman Street, on the east by 8 Spruce Street, and on the north by 150 Nassau Street. 5 Beekman Street is diagonally across the intersection of Nassau and Beekman streets, while the Potter Building and 41 Park Row are directly across Nassau Street. The Morse Building occupies a plot measuring on Nassau Street and on Beekman Street.Architecture
The Morse Building stands tall with 14 stories and is one of the oldest remaining fireproof skyscrapers in New York City. Benjamin Silliman Jr. and James M. Farnsworth designed the Morse Building's lowest eight stories, built between 1878 and 1880. The structure was the firm's first major project in New York City; the firm had designed the Morse Building as a 10-story structure, but the top two stories were subsequently rebuilt. The upper six stories were designed by William P. Bannister and Richard Montgomery Schell and built from 1901 and 1902. The building's original design was inspired by the Victorian Gothic, Neo-Grec, and Rundbogenstil styles. The Morse Building's corner location allowed it to have two full facades: the southern elevation on Beekman Street and the western elevation on Nassau Street. The design of the Morse Building contrasts with that of the Temple Court Building and Potter Building, from the same architects.Silliman and Farnsworth's choice of building materials was influenced by the then-recent "Great Fires" of Boston and Chicago. Brick and terracotta were used as a fireproof material. The terracotta was sourced from a Chicago firm while the brick was made by the Peerless Brick Company of Philadelphia. The project also involved Smith & Prodgers as plasterers, Morton & Chesley as carpenters, and Steward & Vanhorn as the decorators and painters. Numerous other contractors provided various materials for the building. The 1901–1902 expansion employed Charles Ward Hall, the building's then-owner, as chief engineer, and Hall & Grant Construction as general contractor.
The building was originally tall, making it one of New York City's tallest buildings upon its completion. According to a 1879 count, the former New York Tribune Building and Western Union Telegraph Building were the tallest at, excluding their ornamental clock towers. The completed building was said to be the tallest straight-walled building in the city, or even in the world. Taller structures, including the Tribune and Western Union buildings, had setbacks partway up their facades. The Morse Building was cited as the first structure to use raised vertical terracotta joints, which in turn were credited with preventing rain from washing out the mortar. It was also one of the first structures to use ornamental terracotta.
Facade
The current facade is divided into three horizontal sections: a two-story base, a six-story midsection from the original design, and a six-story upper section. The building's exterior walls are thick in the cellar and thick at the first floor, narrowing to at the eighth floor. The facade was initially divided into four horizontal sections: a two-story base; two midsections of three stories; and an upper section of one full story, one attic story, and a cornice with a parapet. The current first floor was originally a raised basement. Prominent vertical pilasters subdivide the facade into three segments on Nassau Street and two on Beekman Street; these were designed to emphasize the horizontal lines as much as possible, in order to temper the perceived excessive height of the building. There are five bays facing Nassau Street, divided by the pilasters into a 2-1-2 pattern, and four bays facing Beekman Street, divided by the pilasters into two groups of two. The eastern facade is bare and contains arched windows.During the reconstruction, the lowest of the facade was refaced with blocks of stone, while the rest of the original exterior was unchanged to a height of. The first floor contains four storefront openings each facing Nassau and Beekman Streets, as well as an entrance to the residential units in the center bay on Nassau Street. The second floor has five rectangular windows on Nassau Street and four facing Beekman Street.
The third- through eighth-story windows are set in brick and terracotta. On the current third and sixth stories, each bay has two semicircular arched windows, while on the fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth stories, each bay has two flat-arched windows within a segmental arch. The segmental arches were evocative of those of the Tribune Building, and the red and black brick added emphasis to the facade. A fiberglass cornice runs above the eighth story.
The ninth through thirteenth stories are set within brick. The pilasters from the lower stories continue upward, and each bay contains a single three-part window on each floor. A fiberglass cornice runs above the thirteenth story. There is a space between the tenth and eleventh story, between which was a balcony and cornice. The fourteenth story serves as an attic with another cornice above it. On the roof is an elevator room.
Foundation
At the bottom, the walls were offset to, where they rested on continuous concrete footings, each of which was thick. The walls exert a pressure of on the foundation, which descends to a layer of sand below curb level.The Morse Building's northern wall abuts 150 Nassau Street and was underpinned with brick and concrete during the construction of that building. The foundations of 150 Nassau Street descended to below ground level; the new footings installed during that project were only thick and were flush with the original wall. During the 1901–1902 expansion of the building, these footings were found to be insufficient to support the weight of the extra stories. A force of 12,000 pounds per square foot would have been exerted on these footings, causing unequal settlement. As a result, a trench was dug along the north wall below the sub-basement level. Four longitudinal distributing beams were installed, serving as grillages for short vertical center posts that rose to horizontal transverse girders; these transverse girders served as cantilevers, more evenly distributing the force placed on each footing.
Features
The floors were constructed of iron I-beams placed at intervals of and supported at both ends by brickwork. These beams were spanned by fireproof corrugated arches infilled with concrete. Two transverse partition walls, whose centers were apart, separate the building into three unequal sections from north to south. These partitions, along with the exterior walls, carry all of the iron beams. The partitions were also fireproof, since Smith & Prodgers covered them with laths of iron and layers of plaster. Post & McCord installed the iron beams in the frame with a steam derrick, marking the contractor's first use of that tool. The original building did not need to use any interior columns because its entire weight was supported on the exterior piers.When the upper six stories were constructed, the exterior walls were moved slightly and steel beams were installed to provide support for the frame. A "cap" of beams was installed above the eighth floor, from which these steel beams descended to the lower stories. On the upper stories, eighteen steel beams were installed on the outer walls and five interior columns were placed atop grillage beams. The wall girders were concealed by the projecting eighth-floor belt course.
Originally, the building had an iron stairway with marble and slate treads at its center. There were also two hydraulic elevators made by Otis and a dumbwaiter for items. There were water tanks with of capacity. Fireplaces in each room connected to a steam-heating system, with a boiler and smokestack. The windows were glazed with plate glass while the hardware was made of bronze; the floors were made of wood. The original basement was below street level with a ceiling, and a flight of stairs connected to the original first story, which had a ceiling. During the 1901–1902 reconstruction, the lowest two floors were raised several feet, and a new staircase and three elevators made by the Portland Company were installed, replacing the old staircase and elevators. The original oil lamps and gas pipes were replaced with electric lighting and steam heating; the plumbing was replaced; and the boiler was brought to the top of the new roof. The Morse Building housed offices when it was completed, but in 1980, it was converted to 39 apartments with three units on each floor, ranging from in size.