1 Wall Street Building
- Architect
- Ralph Thomas Walker
- Year
- 1932
- Style
- Art Deco
- City
- Manhattan, NY
- Collection
- ralph walker’s deco
1 Wall Street is a 654-foot Art Deco skyscraper occupying a full block in the Financial District, built between 1929 and 1931 for Irving Trust, an early-20th-century American bank. Ralph Thomas Walker, of the firm Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker, designed the original 50-story tower; a 28-story annex (later expanded to 36 stories) followed between 1963 and 1965 from the successor firm Voorhees, Walker, Smith, Smith & Haines. It has also been known as the Irving Trust Company Building, the Bank of New York Building, and the BNY Mellon Building.
the building
Curtain-like facade. The limestone exterior is composed of slightly inward-curved bays with fluting designed to resemble curtains, an unusual treatment that softens the building's massive scale.
Massing and setbacks. The tower incorporates numerous small setbacks and chamfered corners on the original building, culminating in a freestanding top section with fluted, windowless bays.
Base and entrances. The lower stories carry narrow windows and elaborate entrances, leading into an ornate lobby within the original 1931 structure.
the style
Walker's Art Deco treatment favors abstracted, sculptural fluting over historical ornament — the curtain-like curved bays and chamfered corners read as modern even while the building's massing follows older skyscraper conventions.
More on Art Decothe architect
Ralph Thomas Walker designed 1 Wall Street through his firm Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker; the firm's successor, Voorhees, Walker, Smith, Smith & Haines, later extended the building with a matching annex.
significance
1 Wall Street is a New York City Individual Landmark (LP-02029) and a contributing property to the National Register of Historic Places, designated on 3/6/2001.
nearby
- New York Stock Exchange
- Empire Building
- 65 Broadway
- Adams Express Building
- 14 Wall Street
- Continental Bank Building