West Street Building
- Architect
- Cass Gilbert
- Year
- 1907
- Style
- Gothic Revival
- City
- Manhattan, NY
- Collection
- cass gilbert’s downtown
The West Street Building, now known as 90 West Street, is a 23-story Gothic Revival skyscraper at West and Cedar Streets in Lower Manhattan, designed by Cass Gilbert and completed in 1907. It was erected for the West Street Improvement Corporation, led by transportation magnate Howard Carroll, with Gunvald Aus and Burt Harrison as structural engineers and John Peirce as general contractor. The building, now residential, sits just south of the World Trade Center.
the building
Gothic dressed for height. The Gothic styling and ornamentation were used specifically to emphasize the building's height, blending the three-part 'classical column' composition of 19th-century towers with the 'romantic tower' Gilbert would later refine at the Woolworth Building.
Waterfront construction. Because the site sat on the waterfront, builders had to drive pilings deep into the ground to support the structure.
Terracotta facade. The exterior combines a granite base rising two stories with a terracotta facade above, and terracotta fireproofing was used throughout the building's interior.
the style
Gilbert's Gothic Revival treatment here anticipates the 'romantic tower' massing he would later use at the Woolworth Building, making 90 West Street an early test of ideas he would refine on a grander scale.
More on Gothic Revivalthe architect
Cass Gilbert designed the West Street Building in 1907, working here with structural engineers Gunvald Aus and Burt Harrison; he would go on to design the Woolworth Building using related massing ideas.
significance
90 West Street is a New York City designated landmark (LP-01984) and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, designated 5/19/1998. Its design was widely praised when completed.
nearby
- St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church
- New York Evening Post Building
- Two World Trade Center
- American Stock Exchange Building
- 4 World Trade Center
- World Trade Center