American Surety Building

American Surety Building
American Surety Building
Alternative names Bank of Tokyo Building, 100 Broadway
General information
Status Complete
Type Office
Architectural style Neoclassical
Location 96-100 Broadway, New York, NY 10005, United States
Coordinates 40°42′29″N 74°00′40″W / 40.7081°N 74.0112°W / 40.7081; -74.0112Coordinates: 40°42′29″N 74°00′40″W / 40.7081°N 74.0112°W / 40.7081; -74.0112
Construction started 1894
Completed 1896
Renovated 1920-1922
Owner Northwood Investors
Height 338 feet (103 m)
Technical details
Floor count 26
Design and construction
Architect Bruce Price
Renovating team
Architect Herman Lee Meader

The American Surety Building is a historic skyscraper located at 100 Broadway, New York City, New York, opposite Trinity Church. It has been declared a landmark as one of Manhattan's most influential early skyscrapers.

History

The building was constructed from 1894 to 1896, following designs by noted architect Bruce Price. It was one of Manhattan's first buildings with steel framing and curtain wall construction. At its original 21 stories, it was Price's first tall building and the second tallest building in New York.

1898 drawing of the American Surety Building.

In an interview, Price described his design as "a campanile with four pilaster faces, the seven flutes being represented by seven rows of windows". The building is set on an irregular, trapezoidal lot, and designed as a Neo-Renaissance tower clad in Maine granite with a 3-story base, a 12-story shaft, and a 6-story cap. (Its 4th and 15 stories are transitional.) The base is an Ionic entrance colonnade topped with sculptures in a classical style by J. Massey Rhind. Above rises a middle section of horizontally banded piers with vertical strips framing the windows, which culminates in a row of figural sculptures extending from the 14th to 15th stories. A further six-story cap (subsequently modified) featured a colonnade of Corinthian pilasters, stone cornice, and a crowning parapet of gilded metal acroteria on the setback 20th and 21st stories.

The North American Trust Company was organized in early 1896, and at the start of 1898, the company was located in the American Surety Building at 100 Broadway.[1]

In 1920-1922, New York architect Herman Lee Meader supervised alterations, which included a new L-shaped annex that widened the tower from 7 to 11 bays, and addition of several stories, which greatly modified the original cap.

100 Broadway entrance in 2007.

See also

References

  • Landmarks Preservation Commission report
  • Matthew A. Postal, Andrew S. Dolkart, Guide to New York City Landmarks, John Wiley and Sons, 2003, page 12. ISBN 0-471-36900-4.
  • NYC-Architecture.com
  • Barr Ferree, "A Talk with Bruce Price," The Great American Architects Series, Architectural Record, 5 (June 1899), in Great American Architects Series Nos. 1-6; May 1895-July 1899 (reprint New York: Arno Press, 1977), page 76.
  • Bank of Tokyo Building on The Skyscraper Center
  1. ↑ "A Place for Colonel Trenholm; Head of North American Trust Company -- W.S. Johnston Succeeds Him in American Surety". The New York Times. New York City, United States. January 20, 1898. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
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