Russ Building

Russ Building

Russ Building, 235 Montgomery St, San Francisco, CA 94104
Alternative names The Skyscraper
Record height
Preceded by Pacific Telephone Building
Surpassed by Hartford Building
General information
Status Complete
Type Commercial offices
Location 235 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, California
Coordinates 37°47′28″N 122°24′10″W / 37.7912°N 122.4028°W / 37.7912; -122.4028Coordinates: 37°47′28″N 122°24′10″W / 37.7912°N 122.4028°W / 37.7912; -122.4028
Completed 1927
Owner The Swig Company
Management Shorenstein Company
Height
Antenna spire 132.6 m (435 ft)
Roof 127.4 m (418 ft)
Technical details
Floor count 32[1]
Floor area 500,000 sq ft (46,000 m2)
Lifts/elevators 15
Design and construction
Architect George W. Kelham[1]
Structural engineer H.J. Brunnier Associates
Main contractor Dinwiddie Construction
References
[2][3][4]

The Russ Building is a Neo-Gothic office tower located in the Financial District of San Francisco, California. The 133-metre (436 ft) building was completed in 1927 and had 32 floors as well as the city's first indoor parking garage. It was the tallest building in San Francisco from 1927 to 1964 and one of the most prominent, along with its 133-metre (436 ft) "twin", the PacBell Building to the south.[2]

Upon completion, the building was iconic enough that Architect and Engineer wrote, “In nearly every large city there is one building that because of its size, beauty of architectural design and character of its use and occupancy, has come to typify the city itself ... Today the Russ Building takes this place in San Francisco. By its size and location and by the character of its tenants the building becomes indeed—'The Center of Western Progress'.”[5]

However, Manhattanization from 1960 to 1990 has shrouded the tower in a shell of skyscrapers, removing the tower's prominence.

The San Francisco Chronicle's architecture critic John King described the Russ Building as "the embodiment of Jazz Age romance, a full block of ornate Gothic-flavored masonry that ascends in jagged stages from Montgomery Street with a leap and then a scramble to a central crown".[1] The tower is a California Historical Landmark.[2]

Until the emergence of Sand Hill Road in the 1980s, many of the largest venture capital firms held offices in the Russ Building.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Russ Building.

References

  1. 1 2 3 King, John (2015). Cityscapes 2: Reading the Architecture of San Francisco. Heyday. ISBN 9781597143141.
  2. 1 2 3 Russ Building at Emporis
  3. "Russ Building". SkyscraperPage.
  4. Russ Building at Structurae
  5. Corbett, Michael R (1979). Splendid survivors: San Francisco's downtown architectural heritage. San Francisco: California Living Books. ISBN 978-0-89395-031-6.

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/23/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.