British Empire Building
British Empire Building | |
---|---|
General information | |
Type | Office building |
Location | 620 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10112 |
Coordinates | 40°45′30″N 73°58′41″W / 40.75826°N 73.97792°W |
Completed | 1933 |
Owner | Tishman Speyer |
Height | |
Roof | 90 ft (27 m) (excluding penthouse) |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 6 (+1+1⁄2-story penthouse) |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Associated Architects, including Raymond Hood |
Developer | John D. Rockefeller Jr. |
Structural engineer | Post & McCord |
British Empire Building | |
NYC Landmark No. 1446
| |
Area | 22 acres (8.8 ha) |
Architect | Raymond Hood |
Architectural style | Modern, Art Deco |
Part of | Rockefeller Center (ID87002591) |
NYCL No. | 1446 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | December 23, 1987[1] |
Designated CP | December 23, 1987[2] |
Designated NYCL | April 23, 1985 |
The British Empire Building, also known by its address 620 Fifth Avenue, is a commercial building at Rockefeller Center in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Completed in 1933, the six-story structure was designed in the Art Deco style by Raymond Hood, Rockefeller Center's lead architect. The British Empire Building, along with the nearly identical La Maison Francaise to the south and the high-rise International Building to the north, comprise a group of retail-and-office structures known as the International Complex. La Maison Francaise and the British Empire Building are separated by Channel Gardens, a planted pedestrian esplanade running west to the complex's Lower Plaza.
The facade is made of
La Maison Francaise and the British Empire Building were developed as part of the construction of Rockefeller Center after a proposal for a single building on the site was scrapped. After the British government signed a lease for the building in January 1932, work began the next month with a groundbreaking ceremony in July 1932. The building was completed in 1933 and initially mainly hosted British companies. Over the years, the building has contained a variety of tenants, including stores and travel companies.
Site
110yds
The British Empire Building is part of the
The Channel Gardens, a 60-foot-wide (18 m), 200-foot-long (61 m) planted pedestrian esplanade, separates the British Empire Building and La Maison Francaise.[7][8] It is named after the English Channel, the waterway separating Britain and France.[9] The plaza slopes down toward the Lower Plaza to the west.[7][8] The Lower Plaza is a below-grade courtyard containing Paul Manship's Prometheus sculpture and a seasonal ice rink.[10][11] Architectural critic Paul Goldberger of The New York Times described the British Empire Building, Channel Gardens, and La Maison Francaise as "leading to a central focus", namely the Lower Plaza.[12]
The British Empire Building is in the eastern section of the Rockefeller Center complex.
Architecture
The British Empire Building is a six-story limestone building, with
According to The New York Times, the British Empire Building measures 90 feet (27 m) tall to the top of its sixth story.[21] The edifice measures 70 feet (21 m) on Fifth Avenue and 200 feet (61 m) on 50th Street.[22] There is a 1+1⁄2-story penthouse above the west half of the sixth story and a roof garden above the eastern half of the sixth story.[23][17] The seventh-story penthouse gives the building a more imposing massing along the Lower Plaza than along Fifth Avenue.[24] The masses of the British Empire Building and La Maison Francaise complement that of 623 Fifth Avenue to the east[25] and 30 Rockefeller Plaza to the west.[26]
Facade
The entire facade is made of limestone. The ground floor of the British Empire Building includes storefronts and display windows on all four
Hartley Burr Alexander, a mythology and symbology professor who oversaw Rockefeller Center's art program, led the installation of artwork throughout the complex.[30][31][32] Rockefeller Center's international complex was decorated to an international theme, with motifs representing the arts, peace, and commerce.[33] The British Empire Building's artwork was themed to "symbols of a new day".[34][35] The building's art was designed by American artists. This contrasted with La Maison Francaise and the International Building's Palazzo d'Italia wing, which were decorated by artists from the buildings' respective home countries of France and Italy.[35] As Britain did not have a good economy at the time of the building's construction, most of the artwork in the building focused on the historical empire rather than its artistic contribution.[36]
Fifth Avenue
Above these panels, Jennewein also sculpted a cartouche that depicts the
Other elevations
The west elevation rises seven stories and includes display windows, but no doors, at ground level. West of the building, stairs descend from the sidewalk to the Lower Plaza. As a result, the west elevation's left display window is smaller than the other display windows on that elevation. The west elevation does not itself set back, but the fifth- and seventh-story setbacks of the north and south elevations are visible. The west elevation is divided by four piers, each with a bronze hood for illumination. The leftmost pier contains a small inscription with the text "Rockefeller Center".[45]
The north and south elevations are similar to each other and include ground-level storefronts and display windows.[23] On the ground story of both elevations, there are four storefronts or display windows on either side of a secondary entrance.[28] On the secondary entrances, Lee Lawrie placed decorations signifying symbols of the empire's power.[46][47] The entrances themselves are recessed and include revolving doors. The western eight bays of each elevation rise to the seventh story, with limestone lattice spandrels and an additional setback above six of these bays.[28] There is a cornerstone with an inscription at the southeast corner of the building.[23]
The northern entrance at 10 West 50th Street is simple in design. It contains three gilded lions in a passant-gardant posture, which are carved into the limestone block above the entrance.
Features
The British Empire Building and La Maison Francaise together contain only 173,000 square feet (16,100 m2) of floor area, even though their site can theoretically accommodate a 912,800-square-foot (84,800 m2) building.
The superstructure is made of skeletal steel[23] and weighs 1,700 short tons (1,500 long tons; 1,500 t).[22] The building's steel structure was strengthened to support the weight of the rooftop garden,[54] which is planted with flowers and hedges.[55] The rooftop also contains a memorial garden known as Anzac Garden, which was installed in 1942.[56][57] C. J. Hughes of The New York Times described the roof gardens in 2019 as "jewels that have broken loose from a necklace and landed on a dusty floor".[58]
History
The construction of Rockefeller Center occurred between 1932 and 1940[a] on land that John D. Rockefeller Jr. leased from Columbia University.[61][62] The Rockefeller Center site was originally supposed to be occupied by a new opera house for the Metropolitan Opera.[63] By 1928, Benjamin Wistar Morris and designer Joseph Urban were hired to come up with blueprints for the house.[64] However, the new building was too expensive for the opera to fund by itself, and it needed an endowment.[19] The project ultimately gained Rockefeller's support.[19][65] The planned opera house was canceled in December 1929 due to various issues,[66][67][68] and Rockefeller quickly negotiated with Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and its subsidiaries, National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO), to build a mass media entertainment complex on the site.[69][70][71] By May 1930, RCA and its affiliates had agreed to develop the site.[72][73]
Development
One proposal for Rockefeller Center, revealed in March 1930,
As American tenants were reluctant to rent in these retail buildings, Rockefeller Center manager Hugh Robertson, formerly of Todd, Robertson and Todd, suggested foreign tenants for the buildings.[89][90] The complex's managers promoted Rockefeller Center as a "hub for international trade".[9] Rockefeller Center's managers held talks with prospective Czech, German, Italian, and Swedish lessees who could potentially occupy the six-story internationally themed buildings on Fifth Avenue. Dutch, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian tenants were also reportedly considered.[84][89][90] The British government leased the building in January 1932,[91] making it the first themed building for which an agreement was made.[34][92][82] The building was to be a free port, with all of its merchandise being exempted from tariffs,[93] and it would host the governmental and commercial ventures of the United Kingdom.[82][92] The seventh-story penthouse above the building was added late in the design process.[24]
Excavation for the sites of the British Empire Building and La Maison Francaise began in February 1932.
1930s to 1970s
A two-story free port under the British Empire Building was announced in October 1933.[106] The next month, cigarette brand Dunhill opened a three-story tobacco and specialty store in the building,[107][108] with a mural by Arthur Crisp[108] and the world's largest conditioned humidor.[107] Other early tenants included perfumer Yardley London,[109] furniture store Arundell Clarke Ltd.,[110] the Empire Galleries art gallery,[111] Imperial Airways,[112] and the Canadian Department of Trade and Commerce.[113] By the beginning of 1935, the British Empire Building was 91 percent occupied.[114] The building also hosted exhibits such as a display of Ethiopian coins[115] and a model-boat show.[116] Rockefeller Center celebrated the building's first anniversary in October 1935 with a "cocktail and tea party" featuring actor Roland Young.[117] The last vacant space in the British Empire Building was leased by British company Aluminum Ltd. in April 1937, making it the first building in Rockefeller Center to be fully leased.[118]
Among the tenants that moved into the British Empire Building in the 1940s were gift store The Waldrons (which expanded its space four times in two years);
In the 1950s, menswear retailer Whitehouse and Hardy leased a store in the British Empire Building,
1980s and 1990s
Columbia University was not making enough money from Rockefeller Center leases by the 1970s,
Meanwhile, Columbia had agreed to sell the land to the Rockefeller Group for $400 million in February 1985.
The Rockefeller Group filed for bankruptcy protection in May 1995 after missing several mortgage payments.[158][159] That November, John Rockefeller Jr.'s son David and a consortium led by Goldman Sachs agreed to buy Rockefeller Center's buildings for $1.1 billion,[160] beating out Sam Zell and other bidders.[161] The transaction included $306 million for the mortgage and $845 million for other expenses.[162] A preservation dispute arose in May 1998, when the owners announced plans to enlarge shop windows on the center's Fifth Avenue buildings to two stories.[163][164] The window sizes were reduced upon the LPC's request,[165][166] and the modifications were approved in September 1998.[165][167]
2000s to present
In January 2020, Tishman Speyer hired Gabellini Sheppard Associates to design a renovation for Channel Gardens, Rockefeller Plaza, and the Lower Plaza. These plans included modifications to lighting, planting, pathways, and facades, such as the storefronts of La Maison Francaise and the British Empire Building.[170][171] The plans were approved that April.[172]
References
Notes
- ^ 30 Rockefeller Plaza was the first building to start construction, in September 1932.[59] The last building was completed in 1940.[60]
- ^ a b Namely 1250 Avenue of the Americas, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the British Empire Building, La Maison Francaise, the Channel Gardens, and the Lower Plaza[141]
- 1270 Avenue of the Americas; 1, 10, 30, 50, and 75 Rockefeller Plaza; the British Empire Building; the International Building; La Maison Francaise; and Radio City Music Hall. The lobbies of the International Building and 30 Rockefeller Plaza were also protected.[141]
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