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REAL ESTATE
BUILDERS
AND
NEW YORK, MAY 3, 1913
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i A MODERN TYPE OF OFFICE CONSTRUCTION J
The Architects' Building Is an Interesting Solution of the Problem of
Achieving Good Light and Economy of Upkeep Through Simple Means.
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FOR obvious reasons, one is justified
in expecting to find correct modern
practice in design, construction and
equipment e.xemplified in tiie new Archi¬
tect's Building, opened this week, at
Park avenue and Fortieth street. The
building is owned by a corporation com¬
posed of eminent architects and engi¬
neers, and it was erected under their
personal supervision for their own use.
It is a co-operative investment,
the property of Architects'
Offices, Inc., of which Burt L.
Fenner, of McKim, Mead &
White, is president, Andrew J.
Post, of Post & McCord,
treasurer, and Benjamin W.
Morris, of La Farge & Mor¬
ris, secretary, their associates
on the board of directors being
Kenneth M. Murchison, Ar¬
nold W. Brunner, Charles
Ewing and William S. Post.
The corporation was formed
through the initiative of
Ewing, Bacon & Henry, a
prominent firm of engineers
and real estate managers,
which has the new building in
its charge and which, besides,
is a member of the co-opera¬
tive corporation. From incep¬
tion to finish, the Architects'
Building is, in a sensee, a joint
product, for every matter of
importance connected with it
has been passed upon by the
board of directors; and it will
therefore, no doubt, be widely
studied as an authentic expres¬
sion of progressive tendencies
in office building construction
and management.
When appraising the merits
of a building it is essential to
have in mind the practical con¬
ditions which had to be met.
Those that governed in the
case of the Architects' Build¬
ing may be inferred from the
following remarks by Mr. Fen¬
ner: "At the time the firm of
McKim, Mead & White moved
into its present offices, it was
assumed that this part of Fifth
avenue, below Twenty-third
street, would long remain the
center of a high-grade business
district. Since then, however,
there has been a strong up¬
town movement of the better
class of retail shops, clubs,
hotels, and residences, and this
end of the avenue has become
congested with manufacturing
establishments. In addition to
finding ourselves isolated in an
undesirable neighborhood, we have had
our light partly shut ofi by the erection
of an adjacent tall building.
"We began several years ago to look
for suitable quarters uptown, but most
of the new buildings there are loft struc¬
tures, and what we required were the
environment and the facilities oflfered
by a first-class ofifice building. Just as
we had become thoroughly convinced of
the fruitlessness of our search, we were
asked to join a group of men in the
architectural and engineering profes-
THE ARCHITECTS' BUILDING.
sions, who, like ourselves, had failed to ticable
discover appropriate quarters uptown, service.
in an enterprise to erect and maintain a In a
building on a more or less cooperative
plan.
"The corporation organized to carry
out this project, acquired a site that is
centrally situated, that commands abun¬
dant light and that is in a vicinity where
land values are sufficiently high to act as
a barrier against the encroachment of
factories. The chief purpose of the
members of the corporation was to ob¬
tain roomy, well-lighted oflfices
in a thoroughly fireproof and
sanitary structuie, at a yearly
cost which should not exceed
the rents they had been pay¬
ing for inferior accommoda¬
tions. They also saw that in
occupying oflices in a building
owned and operated by them¬
selves they could control the
service and make it exactly
what they themselves desired
it to be rather than that which
an outside landlord might
choose to make it.
"In planning the building it
was necessary to consider the
financial conditions, as well as
the professional demands, of
the owners; for professional
men are not capitalists, and
the funds at the disposal of
the corporation were limited.
In the development of the de¬
sign and in the choice of ma¬
terials and equipment, the
architects, Ewing & Chappell
and La Farge & Morris, and
the engineers, Ewing, Bacon
& Henry, were guided by the
necessity of avoiding needless
expense and making every
dollar count, which conditions,
we believe, have been fully
met in the completed building.
Even with additional funds, I
doubt whether we should have
changed any essential feature
in the construction of the
building."
Conditions Which Determined
the Design.
From what Mr. Fenner has
said, it will be seen that the
practical considerations whicli
had to be met by the design
were these: The ofifices had to
be uncommonly well lighted,
and the building had to be in
every essential respect a high-
class structure, yet the invest¬
ment cost was not to exceed
the minimum required to im¬
part dignity and character to
the building, and, finally, as
low a maintenance cost was to
be achieved as would be prac-
without sacrifice of quality in
general way, the objects aimed