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The Cunard Building, formerly the Standard & Poors Building, is a 22-story office building at 25
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
, across from Bowling Green Park, in the
Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies, and other related finance corporations have their headquarters offices. In major cities, financial districts often host ...
of
Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. The Cunard Building was designed in the
Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...
style by Benjamin Wistar Morris, in conjunction with consultants
Carrère & Hastings Carrère (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department The following is a list of the 545 Communes of France, communes of the Pyrénées-Atlan ...
. The Cunard Building's facade and principal first-floor interior spaces are
New York City designated landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and c ...
s, and the building is also a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District, a
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
district created in 2007. The Cunard Building's main facade, on Broadway, is made of limestone and consists of three horizontal sections. The design employs setbacks and open " light courts" as mandated by the
1916 Zoning Resolution The 1916 Zoning Resolution in New York City was the first citywide Zoning in the United States, zoning code in the United States. The zoning resolution reflected both Boroughs of New York City, borough and local interests, and was adopted primar ...
. The structure was designed around an irregular street grid and is located directly above a subway line that crosses the building site diagonally. The first floor interior contains an elaborately decorated lobby, as well as a similarly opulent Great Hall, which extends with a dome. The remaining floors contain various offices and school spaces. The Cunard Building was erected for the New York City office of British-American steamship operator
Cunard Line The Cunard Line ( ) is a British shipping and an international cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its four ships have been r ...
; construction started in 1920 and the building was completed the next year. Upon completion, the Cunard Building's exterior and interior designs received critical acclaim, and the building was almost fully leased to tenants in various industries. The Twenty-five Broadway Corporation, a Cunard Line affiliate, owned the building until the 1960s. The Great Hall was vacated after the Cunard Line moved out in 1968; the
United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...
occupied the Great Hall from 1974 until 2000, and
Cipriani S.A. Cipriani S.A. is an Italian hotel and leisure company domiciled in Luxembourg that owns and operates luxury restaurants and clubs around the world including Harry's Bar in Venice and formerly the Rainbow Room in New York City. It specialises in ...
started using the space in 2014. The upper floors continued to host offices and various educational facilities.


Site

The Cunard Building is a 22-story building, bounded by the
Bowling Green Offices Building The Bowling Green Offices Building (also known as the Bowling Green Building, Bowling Green Offices, or 11 Broadway) is an office building located at 11 Broadway, across from Bowling Green park in the Financial District of Manhattan in ...
(11 Broadway) and 1 Broadway to the south,
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
to the east,
Greenwich Street Greenwich Street is a north–south street in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It extends from the intersection of Ninth Avenue (Manhattan), Ninth Avenue and Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District, Manha ...
to the west, and Morris Street to the north. It is located across from Bowling Green Park to the southeast, and
26 Broadway 26 Broadway, also known as the Standard Oil Building or Socony–Vacuum Building, is an office building adjacent to Bowling Green in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The 31-story, structure was designed in the Renais ...
and the ''
Charging Bull ''Charging Bull'' (sometimes referred to as the ''Bull of Wall Street'' or the ''Bowling Green Bull'') is a bronze sculpture that stands on Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway just north of Bowling Green (New York City), Bowling Green in the Financ ...
'' sculpture to the east. While 25 Broadway is considered to be its primary address, it is also known as 13–27 Broadway, 13–39 Greenwich Street, and 1–9 Morris Street. The Cunard Building has a
frontage Frontage is the boundary between a plot of land or a building and the road onto which the plot or building fronts. Frontage may also refer to the full length of this boundary. This length is considered especially important for certain types of ...
of along Broadway, along Greenwich Street, and along Morris Street. Due to the irregular street grid of the area, none of its corners are at right angles. The Cunard Building was one of several structures built on the lower section of Broadway in the early 20th century that would be affiliated with the maritime trade. It was also one of several corporate headquarters to be constructed at the southern end of Broadway during the early 20th century.


Architecture

The Cunard Building was largely designed by Benjamin Wistar Morris. The
massing Massing is the architecture, architectural term for general Shape and form (visual arts), shape, form and size of a structure. Characteristics Massing is three-dimensional, a matter of form, not just an outline from a single perspective, a s ...
and facade were devised by
Carrère and Hastings Carrère and Hastings, the firm of John Merven Carrère ( ; November 9, 1858 – March 1, 1911) and Thomas Hastings (architect), Thomas Hastings (March 11, 1860 – October 22, 1929), was an American list of architecture firms, architecture firm ...
, while exterior detail was created by Rochette & Parzini. The structure was laid out so that ancillary structures such as smoke stacks, penthouses, and storage tanks could not be seen from the side. Its location near ferry slips, the
New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...
, elevated
Interborough Rapid Transit The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was the private operator of New York City's original underground subway line that opened in 1904, as well as earlier elevated railways and additional rapid transit lines in New York City. The IRT ...
lines, and the
Hudson & Manhattan Railroad The Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) is a rapid transit system in the northeastern New Jersey cities of Newark, Harrison, Jersey City, and Hoboken, as well as Lower and Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is operated as a wholly owne ...
's
Hudson Terminal Hudson Terminal was a rapid transit station and office-tower complex in the Radio Row neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Opened during 1908 and 1909, it was composed of a Railway terminal, terminal station for the Hudson & Manhat ...
made the Cunard Building desirable to tenants. In the 1970s, the Cunard Building became known as the Standard & Poors Building, after its tenant
Standard & Poor's S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is co ...
, though the name also came to refer to nearby structures.


Form

The building is H-shaped, with "light courts" facing north toward Morris Street and south toward the Bowling Green Building. The "light courts" are located above the base. The placement of these courts allowed light to enter the Great Hall, located on the first floor. According to Morris, the irregular street grid of the neighborhood made it difficult to determine the orientation of the building; he finally decided on its current north–south alignment since, at the time, it would have been possible to see the North River (now the
Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...
) to the south. At the time of the Cunard Building's construction, large buildings in New York City were being erected in a "C" or "H" shape to maximize illumination of the interior space. Additionally, the
1916 Zoning Resolution The 1916 Zoning Resolution in New York City was the first citywide Zoning in the United States, zoning code in the United States. The zoning resolution reflected both Boroughs of New York City, borough and local interests, and was adopted primar ...
necessitated the inclusion of setbacks on buildings in New York City that were above a certain height. The Cunard Building was the first large structure built in the city after the end of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, and set an example for compliance to the 1916 law. Because of the presence of large intersections on either side of the building (Bowling Green to the east and the intersection of Greenwich Street and
Trinity Place Church Street and Trinity Place form a single northbound roadway in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Its northern end is at Canal Street and its southern end is at Morris Street, where Trinity Place merges with Greenwich Street. The dividing p ...
to the west), the required setback under the 1916 zoning law was minimal.


Foundation

The New York City Subway's
BMT Broadway Line The BMT Broadway Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division (New York City Subway), B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan. , it is served by four services, all colored : the on the express tracks and the on the local tracks ...
(carrying the ) crosses diagonally underneath the Cunard Building from northwest to southeast. Two additional subway lines, the
IRT Lexington Avenue Line The IRT Lexington Avenue Line (also known as the IRT East Side Line and the IRT Lexington–Fourth Avenue Line) is one of the lines of the A Division (New York City Subway), A Division of the New York City Subway, stretching from Lower Manhatt ...
() and the
IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line The IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (also known as the IRT Seventh Avenue Line or the IRT West Side Line) is a New York City Subway line. It is one of several lines that serves the A Division, stretching from South Ferry in Lower Manhatt ...
(), run adjacent to the western and eastern boundaries of the building, respectively. The Lexington Avenue Line's
Bowling Green station The Bowling Green station is a station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, located at Broadway and Battery Place (at Bowling Green), in the Financial District of Manhattan. It is served by the 4 train at all times ...
is located directly under the building's boundary, while the Broadway Line's
Whitehall Street station Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parl ...
is located one block south. Because of the subway tunnels in the area, the Cunard Building's foundation was built around the subway. During construction, the engineers considered and rejected an idea for placing the Cunard Building's
girder A girder () is a Beam (structure), beam used in construction. It is the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams. Girders often have an I-beam cross section composed of two load-bearing ''flanges'' separated by a sta ...
s on the roof of the Broadway Line tunnel, since that would have resulted in vibrations every time a subway train passed by. Furthermore, the subway tunnel was designed to support the weight of several small buildings and might not have been able to support one large building. Instead, engineers decided to place the building's foundation columns on either side of the subway tunnel, and then erect girders for the building above the tunnel's roof. The foundation columns were placed as close to the subway tunnel as possible, in order to reduce the length of the trusses, which would have had to carry heavy loads. All of the foundation columns were sunk to the depth of the rock underneath. A
cofferdam A cofferdam is an enclosure built within a body of water to allow the enclosed area to be pumped out or drained. This pumping creates a dry working environment so that the work can be carried out safely. Cofferdams are commonly used for constru ...
was then built on the eastern border of the site, and on part of the northern border. The rock surface underneath the building site was closer to the ground on the western side of the lot, requiring extensive excavation. On the eastern side of the lot, the rock surface sloped below the elevation of the subway tunnel. A wall was built on the southern boundary of the Cunard lot, of which a width was located under the Bowling Green Offices Building. The wall served several purposes: it closed the cofferdam, underpinned the subway, and provided support for the columns on the southern side of the Cunard Building.


Facade


Broadway elevation

The facade of the Broadway
elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...
is made of Indiana Limestone, making the Cunard Building part of a masonry "canyon" on lower Broadway. It is divided horizontally into three sections; one author described the juxtaposition of these sections as "stacked classical compositions". The outermost portions of these facades consist of pavilions that project outward, while the central pavilion is set back . The projecting pavilions on either side rise to the maximum height allowed under the 1916 law. On the Broadway facade, the side pavilions are wide, while the central pavilion is about wide. The Broadway elevation contains decorative elements that signify the area's historic connections with the maritime industry. These include "nautically-inspired sculpted elements", decorative
keystones A keystone (or capstone) is the wedge-shaped stone at the apex of a masonry arch or typically round-shaped one at the apex of a vault. In both cases it is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allo ...
above the first-floor arches, decorative ship-themed
roundel A roundel is a circular disc used as a symbol. The term is used in heraldry, but also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of differ ...
s above the third-floor loggia, and carvings of seahorses with their riders above the pavilions' setbacks. Within the four-story base, the central section is recessed slightly. The first floor contains five double-height arches, set within rusticated masonry, facing Broadway. The rusticated
arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...
is designed in a manner similar to that of 16th-century Italian villas. The center three arches, within the recessed central pavilion, lead to the Great Hall; the southernmost arch leads to the elevator lobby for the office space above; and the northernmost arch led to a banking area on the north side of the building. All the arches contain doors and windows with bronze frames. The third and fourth floors contain an Ionic-style
loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior Long gallery, gallery or corridor, often on an upper level, sometimes on the ground level of a building. The corridor is open to the elements because its outer wall is only parti ...
structure supported by
Tuscan-style The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Ital ...
column pairs. Above the base, the facade is mostly composed of smooth limestone, except for rustication around the fifth story windows. The columns of windows around the central pavilion, which is recessed further, are also set within a rusticated facade. The outer pavilions are set back beyond the 18th story to comply with the 1916 Zoning Resolution. The central pavilion contains a loggia between the 19th and 21st stories, also supported by Tuscan-style column pairs, and includes a
mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called French roof or curb roof) is a multi-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper, and often punctured by dormer wi ...
above the 22nd story. The roofs of the outer pavilions, above the 22nd story, are flat.


Other elevations

On Morris Street, the first and second stories are faced with limestone, while the basement is faced with a
water table The water table is the upper surface of the phreatic zone or zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with groundwater, which may be fresh, saline, or brackish, depending on the loc ...
made of granite. Above the second story is a light court. The facade of the eastern wing (facing Broadway) is limestone, while the rest of the Morris Street facade is made of tan brick. There are also numerous glazed doors with bronze frames, as well as glazed paneled windows with metal frames. The remaining windows on Morris Street are
sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass. History ...
s. On Greenwich Street, the basement is faced with granite and the remaining stories are faced with tan brick. The basement contains service doors, a garage door, and metal window openings. Above the garage door is a large triple-height arched window on the first through third floors, with balconies on the second and third floors; the window is recessed at an angle. The remaining windows on Greenwich Street are sash windows. There is a
cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...
of stone above the 22nd floor. The southernmost section of the Greenwich Street facade only goes to the third floor to allow light to enter the light court within the southern side of the building. The gray brick at both Morris and Greenwich Streets was designed to "harmoniz closely with the limestone". The south elevation consists of a brick facade with sash windows. The light court faces south toward the Bowling Green Offices Building.


Interior

At opening, the Cunard Building featured over of space, of which was made available for tenants when it opened. A basement in the building contained a safe-deposit vault. The building's superstructure was fireproof. According to data collected by '' The Real Deal'' magazine, the precise floor area of the Cunard Building is . The first floor contains numerous elaborate works of art. The building also contained 36 elevators: 33 for passengers and 3 for freight. Of the passenger elevators, 28 were "high-speed" elevators for general use and the remaining 5 were private cabs. The elevators were clustered in the northwestern and eastern parts of the building. Twenty of the "high-speed" elevators were local and express elevators, accessible from the elevator lobby at the southern end of the Broadway facade. The other eight were located at the building's northwest corner, near Greenwich and Morris Streets.


Lobby

The main entrance is from Broadway, through the three center arches, each of which contains a small entrance vestibule inside. The vestibules and the two outer arches all lead to the building's main lobby. The lobby contains a ceiling of five
groin vault A groin vault or groined vault (also sometimes known as a double barrel vault or cross vault) is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. Honour, H. and J. Fleming, (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: La ...
s, each of which correspond to one of the arches on the Broadway facade. The floors are made of
travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and rusty varieties. It is formed by a process ...
with
marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...
trim and contain maritime-themed bronze medallions. The walls are also made of travertine; there is a fireplace on the southern wall and a roll-down gate and doors on the northern wall. A passageway runs along the western wall of the lobby, connecting the northern four bays to the Great Hall to the west. The building's original owners had decided against putting "miscellaneous minor business adventures" in the lobby, such as newsstands, shoe-shine stands, and cigar shops. The lobby ceiling was painted by
Ezra Winter Ezra Augustus Winter (March 10, 1886 – April 6, 1949) was a prominent American muralist. Biography Winter was born in Traverse City, Michigan, trained at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts in 1908, and the American Academy in Rome in 1914. Winte ...
and sculpted by Carl Jennewein, and contains decorations of marine animals and children. The lobby's end bays also contain
bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
s carved by Jennewein. Wrought-iron screens topped by
lunette A lunette (French ''lunette'', 'little moon') is a crescent- or half-moon–shaped or semi-circular architectural space or feature, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void. A lunette may also be ...
grilles, designed by
Samuel Yellin Samuel Yellin (1884–1940) was an American master blacksmith and metal designer. Early life and education Samuel Yellin was born to a Jewish family in Mohyliv-Podilskyi, Ukraine in the Russian Empire in 1884. At the age of eleven, he was ...
, separate the passageway from both the lobby to the east and the Great Hall to the west. The north side of the first floor contained a banking area, which had a private elevator to the fourth floor and a basement-level bank vault. This was initially occupied by a branch of the
Mechanics and Metals National Bank The Mechanics and Metals National Bank (MMNB) was a bank in New York City, founded in 1810 as the Mechanics National Bank. In 1910, it merged with National Copper Bank and took the Mechanics and Metals National Bank name. After a number of mergers ...
.


Great Hall

The Great Hall extends about from east to west and is about wide. It contains several Beaux-Arts design elements, including a symmetrical plan, transverse axes, a central dome, and various walled-off areas. The features are reminiscent of Roman bathhouses, and the treatment of the artwork resembles that at the
Villa Madama Villa Madama is a Renaissance Architecture, Renaissance-style rural palace (villa) located on Via di Villa Madama #250 in Rome, Italy. Located west of the city center and a few miles north of the Vatican, and just south of the Foro Olimpico Stadium ...
's loggia in Italy. During the building's design process, Thomas Hastings of Carrère and Hastings had recommended using the Villa Madama as an inspiration for the Great Hall's shape. When completed, the Great Hall was described as "the largest of its kind" in the United States and was compared to the waiting rooms of railroad terminals. One source described the Great Hall as being the "size of a six-story building covering nearly six city lots". It includes three separate vaults. The central vault is tall with a diameter of . There are large arched windows or "luminary squares" at the ends of its diagonal axes, under which are Ionic columns. Flanking the main dome are two spaces with rectangular
rib vault A rib vault or ribbed vault is an architectural feature for covering a wide space, such as a church nave, composed of a framework of crossed or diagonal arched ribs. Variations were used in Roman architecture, Byzantine architecture, Islamic a ...
s, which extend the hall to the west and east. There are additional arched openings through the west and east walls of the Great Hall: the former leads to a window facing Greenwich Street, while the latter leads to the lobby. As built, the hall was overlooked by wrought-iron balconies on the east wall, designed by Yellin. When the Great Hall was in operation, there were counters for ticket sales, as well as waiting lounges with wood paneling. The different sections of the Great Hall were known as the Freight Distribution Hall and the Bill of Ladling Hall. The ceiling of the Great Hall contains maritime-themed frescoes, which Winter painted using the
fresco-secco Fresco-secco (or a secco or fresco finto) is a wall painting technique where pigments mixed with an organic binder and/or lime are applied onto dry plaster. The paints used can e.g. be casein paint, tempera, oil paint, silicate mineral paint. ...
method. These murals depicted maritime activity and, according to Winter, depicted "the age-old romance of the sea or the lure of travel".
Barry Faulkner Barry Faulkner (full name: Francis Barrett Faulkner; July 12, 1881 – October 27, 1966) was an American artist primarily known for his murals. During World War I, he and sculptor Sherry Edmundson Fry organized artists for training as camouflage ...
painted murals of maps into the walls of the Great Hall's niches, depicting the routes operated by the Cunard Line. The
pendentive In architecture, a pendentive is a constructional device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a square room or of an elliptical dome over a rectangular room. The pendentives, which are triangular segments of a sphere, taper to point ...
s of the Great Hall's dome include depictions of oceanic explorers
Leif Erikson Leif Erikson, also known as Leif the Lucky (), was a Norsemen, Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to set foot on continental Americas, America, approximately half a millennium before Christopher Columbus. According ...
,
Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...
, Sebastian Cabot, and
Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...
. On the Great Hall's floor is a marble compass surrounded by a bronze frieze, designed by John Gregory as an "allegory of the sea".


Upper stories

Each of the office floors consisted of about of space, though the actual rentable space on each floor ranged from . Because of the H-shaped design, all offices had access to windows. In addition, the offices were divided by glass partitions, which allowed managers to observe workers and "see that the occupant of no desk is idle". The Cunard Line's executive offices were placed immediately above the main entrance. The offices also had a library, which one source described as containing the "dignity and comfort of old England". The top four floors have since been converted for use by the
Léman Manhattan Preparatory School Léman Manhattan Preparatory School is a private school located in the Financial District, Manhattan. Students are ages two years old through eighteen years old. There are two Lower Manhattan sites. Founded in 2005 as Claremont Preparatory, the ...
, which uses a side entrance at 1 Morris Street. The school space contains a cafeteria; 30 classrooms; a library; a 400-seat auditorium; and a athletic complex with a gym, swimming pool, and rock climbing wall.


History

The site of the Cunard Building was occupied by Dutch houses after the colony of
New Amsterdam New Amsterdam (, ) was a 17th-century Dutch Empire, Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''Factory (trading post), fac ...
was founded in the 17th century. In 1846, the site became a hotel and restaurant operated by Joseph and Lorenzo Delmonico. This later became a hotel called the Stevens House, which was popular among shipping and mercantile industry figures. By the 1900s and 1910s, the "Stevens House" name applied to two 5-story buildings at the corner of Broadway and Morris Street. According to a 1910 photograph, the buildings on 13-27 Broadway were largely commercial and included a restaurant, art publishers, the Anchor Line steamship company, hatters, and the Stevens House. Meanwhile, the lots facing Greenwich and Morris Streets contained
Manhattan Railway Company The Manhattan Railway Company was an elevated railway company in Manhattan and the Bronx, New York City, United States. It operated four lines: the Second Avenue Line, Third Avenue Line, Sixth Avenue Line, and Ninth Avenue Line. History 19 ...
's lost-property building and the late vice president
Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician, businessman, lawyer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805 d ...
's former house. The
Cunard Line The Cunard Line ( ) is a British shipping and an international cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its four ships have been r ...
, for whom the Cunard Building was constructed, was one of the preeminent British transatlantic
steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...
companies of the 19th century. Its New York City office, which opened in 1846, had always been situated in or around Bowling Green. After moving several times, the Cunard Line sought "an adequate and permanent American headquarters" by the 1910s. Benjamin Wistar Morris started planning for a new office building for the Cunard Line by August 1917, before the site had even been purchased. His preliminary plans called for a grandiose ticket lobby for Cunard's ticket offices and a smaller elevator lobby for tenants of the upper floors. Despite subsequent modifications to the draft, the two separate lobbies remained in the final plan. The individual lots comprising the future Cunard Building were then purchased by the Irons & Todd real-estate firm, which then formed the Todd, Irons & Robertson, Inc. construction company. Irons & Todd eventually hoped to turn over the land to the Twenty-Five Broadway Corporation, a subsidiary headed by an official for the Cunard Line.


Construction

Plans for the Cunard Building were announced in February 1918. At the time, the building was supposed to be 26 stories and cost $10–15 million. One ''New York Times'' writer lamented that the plans would involve the destruction of the Stevens House, described as "the last quaint landmark standing as an interesting connecting link between" historic New York City and the "towering structures of commercial industry." of the modern city Due to World War I, further planning was delayed until June 1919 when Morris was authorized to create "working drawings, specifications and contracts". The demolition of the Stevens House began in July 1919, at which point the Cunard Building's final plans were publicized, showing that it was to comprise only 21 stories. Several details were revised in the final plans; for instance, a colonnade on the Broadway facade was replaced with arches. The
New York City Department of Buildings The New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) is the department of the New York City government that enforces the city's building codes and zoning regulations, issues building permits, licenses, registers and disciplines certain construction ...
received the blueprints for the Cunard Building in August 1919 and approved the project the next January, allowing construction to begin right afterward. Construction was hindered by the presence of subway lines directly underneath the building site, as well as the irregular plot shape and "unknowable" costs. During construction, the underground BMT Broadway Line was carried on a concrete bed held by
quicksand Quicksand (also known as sinking sand) is a colloid consisting of fine granular material (such as sand, silt or clay) and water. It forms in saturated loose sand when the sand is suddenly agitated. When water in the sand cannot escape, it crea ...
above the bottom of the Cunard Building's excavation site, in order to dampen the noise. The presence of the subways, combined with the fact that the Cunard site had been assembled from numerous separate plots, made construction more difficult. In one construction incident in February 1920, rock blasts from the building's excavation resulted in several subway passengers being injured. The designs of the interior artworks were devised off-site and then transferred to a studio within the Cunard Building. The paintings were then installed within the building in four months; the artists used scaffolds to paint the ceilings while the foundations were still being built beneath them. The Cunard Building opened in May 1921 at a total cost of $15 million. Despite increasing material costs at the end of World War I, the project had been completed on time, within 3% of its original budget.


Cunard Line use

The building accommodated nearly 9,000 employees. At the building's opening, Cunard and Anchor Lines occupied the Great Hall, lowest three stories, basement, and top floors. The remaining floors housed numerous other tenants, including
Atlas Portland Cement Company The Atlas Portland Cement Company, based in Northampton, Pennsylvania, was one of the largest cement companies of the world. Founded in Northampton in 1895, Atlas operated there until 1982 when it was bought out. It manufactured Portland cement, t ...
,
Anaconda Copper The Anaconda Company, also known historically as the Anaconda Gold and Silver Mining Company (1881–1891), Anaconda Mining Company (1891–1895), Anaconda Copper Mining Company (1895–1899), Amalgamated Copper Company (1899–1915), and Anacon ...
,
Merchant Shipbuilding Corporation The Merchant Shipbuilding Corporation (abbreviated MSC) was an American corporation established in 1917 by railroad heir W. Averell Harriman to build merchant ships for the Allies of World War I, Allied war effort in World War I. The MSC operate ...
,
Consolidated Steel Corporation The Consolidated Steel Corporation was an American steel and shipbuilding business. Formed on 18 December 1928, the company built ships during World War II in two main locations: Wilmington, California, and Orange, Texas. It was created by the mer ...
, International Motor Truck Company, and Atlantic, Gulf & West Indies Steamship Lines. A branch of the
Mechanics and Metals National Bank The Mechanics and Metals National Bank (MMNB) was a bank in New York City, founded in 1810 as the Mechanics National Bank. In 1910, it merged with National Copper Bank and took the Mechanics and Metals National Bank name. After a number of mergers ...
was located at the first floor, within the retail space on the northeast corner. Even before the Cunard Building's official opening, it was almost fully leased, with only remaining unused by April 1921. This was attributed to relatively low rents, the inclusion of 21-year leases, the timely completion of the project, and a shortage of available office space in the Financial District. In later years, other industries moved into the Cunard Building as well, such as attorneys, railroad and steamship companies, shipbuilding companies, brokers, engineers, and raw materials companies. These included the
New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected New York metropolitan area, gr ...
, which moved into the building in 1946. To pay for the building's
mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners t ...
, its owners were given a loan of $8 million in 1930 and another $2.82 million in 1944. In subsequent years, the assessed taxes for the Cunard Building was reduced multiple times. The New York Supreme Court gave the building's owners tax reprieves in 1946, 1948, and 1950. In 1955, the owners completed a $3 million project to add air conditioning to the Cunard Building, one of the largest such retrofits in an existing structure in the city. Ashforth, Todd & Company purchased the building in 1962. The Cunard Line continued to operate the ticket hall until 1968, when it moved to 555 Fifth Avenue; the vacant space was then leased by brokerage company Francis I. duPont Co.


Late 20th century

The building was sold again in 1971, this time to the Cementation Company of America, a subsidiary of Trafalgar House Investment Group. Initially, the owners had difficulty finding tenants for the Great Hall due to its vast size. The
United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...
leased the Great Hall in 1974, intending to relocate its post office from the nearby Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House two years later. By 1977, the USPS had moved into the Great Hall, and
Standard & Poor's S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is co ...
had signed a 20-year lease for space at the Cunard Building. The building was sold to Zev W. Wolfson for $15 million by 1979. The
City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...
's Center For Worker Education was established on the seventh floor of the Cunard Building in 1981. In 1995, the exterior and the first floor interior of the Cunard Building, along with several other buildings on Bowling Green, were formally designated as New York City landmarks. In 2007, the building was designated as a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District, a
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
district. S&P vacated its spaces at the Cunard Building, as well as at
26 Broadway 26 Broadway, also known as the Standard Oil Building or Socony–Vacuum Building, is an office building adjacent to Bowling Green in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The 31-story, structure was designed in the Renais ...
directly to the east, in 1997 when the company started leasing space at nearby
55 Water Street 55 Water Street is a skyscraper on the East River in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The 53-story, structure was completed in 1972. Designed by Emery Roth and Sons, the ...
.


21st century

The post office closed in 2000. Afterward, the Great Hall went unused again for over a decade. ''The New York Times'' cited the hall's landmark status as a factor in the difficulty of leasing the space. The doors were locked, barring visitors from entering the Great Hall. During the mid-2000s, the Sports Museum of America considered opening within the Great Hall, but the museum ultimately opened in 2008 at 26 Broadway. In 2014, the Great Hall was leased to
Cipriani S.A. Cipriani S.A. is an Italian hotel and leisure company domiciled in Luxembourg that owns and operates luxury restaurants and clubs around the world including Harry's Bar in Venice and formerly the Rainbow Room in New York City. It specialises in ...
for the operation of an event venue. The upper floors remained in use by multiple tenants, including school and college campuses. In 2002,
Deloitte Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...
leased three floors of the Cunard Building after its previous offices at the
World Trade Center World Trade Centers are the hundreds of sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may also refer to: Buildings * World Trade Center (1973–2001), a building complex that was destroyed during the September 11 at ...
were destroyed in the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
.
Léman Manhattan Preparatory School Léman Manhattan Preparatory School is a private school located in the Financial District, Manhattan. Students are ages two years old through eighteen years old. There are two Lower Manhattan sites. Founded in 2005 as Claremont Preparatory, the ...
moved to the Cunard Building in 2010, occupying the top four floors for its middle and high school campuses.
Relay Graduate School of Education Relay Graduate School of Education is a private graduate school for teachers in New York City and other locations in the United States including Atlanta, Baton Rouge, Chicago, Connecticut, Delaware, Denver, Houston, Indiana, Memphis, Nashville, ...
, a private graduate school for teachers, moved into the building in 2019.
WeWork WeWork Inc., headquartered in New York City, is a provider of coworking spaces, including physical and virtual shared spaces, in approximately 600 buildings in 125 cities. WeWork was founded in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey. Ove ...
operated an
coworking Coworking is an arrangement in which workers for different companies share an office space. It allows cost savings and convenience through the use of common infrastructures, such as equipment, utilities and receptionist and custodial services, a ...
space at 25 Broadway from 2013 to 2021, after which Industrious and Wolfson Group leased for use as a coworking space in 2022. The Cunard Building was experiencing financial difficulties by April 2024, when its owners defaulted on a $250 million
commercial mortgage-backed security Commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) are a type of mortgage-backed security backed by commercial mortgage, commercial and multifamily mortgages rather than residential real estate. CMBS tend to be more complex and volatile than Residen ...
loan; the lenders ultimately agreed to postpone a foreclosure proceeding after Wolfson paid $7 million toward the loan. By that year, 30% of the building's space was vacant; one of its largest tenants, Léman Manhattan, had not paid rent for months, having gone on a
rent strike A rent strike, sometimes known as a tenants strike or a renters strike, is a method of protest commonly employed against large landlords. In a rent strike, a group of tenants agree to collectively withhold paying some or all of their rent to the ...
that continued until May 2025. During the mid-2020s, the building's tenants also included a campus of the private college
Mildred Elley Mildred Elley is a private, for-profit college offering two-year programs as well as professional certifications with campuses in Albany, and New York City, New York and in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1917 by Augusta Mildred Elley, ...
.


Critical reception

Upon its opening, writers praised the Cunard Building's design. ''
Architectural Forum ''Architectural Forum'' was an American magazine that covered the homebuilding industry and architecture. Started in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1892 as ''The Brickbuilder'', it absorbed the magazine ''Architect's World'' in October 1938. Ownershi ...
'' magazine published six pieces about the Cunard Building in its July 1921 volume alone. In one such piece, art historian Royal Cortissoz described the external plan as "indeed organic architecture", writing that the "genuine architectural inspiration
prang Prang may refer to: Places * Prang, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a town of Charsadda District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan * Prang Besar, an old name for Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malayasia * Prang Ghar Tehsil or Pran Ghar Subdivision, a subdivis ...
straight from the personality of the designer". Cortissoz said of the building's facade: "You have a sense of business raised to a higher power, taking luxury in its stride." ''Architecture and Building'' called the site "exceedingly well chosen", and the ''New-York Tribune'' called the Cunard Building "one of the fine structures of the city". Other critics praised the building's manner of construction, and how it had been built above the Broadway subway line. In his 1994 book ''New York, a Guide to the Metropolis'', Gerard Wolfe wrote that the Cunard Building was "a harmonious counterpart" to the Standard Oil Building. The interior was similarly regarded. In a piece for ''American Architect and Architecture'' in 1928, C.H. Blackall described the building as having "a magnificent counting room", and that the domed ceiling had "individuality and a most charmingly successful decorative effect".
Henry Hope Reed Jr. Henry Hope Reed Jr. (September 25, 1915 – May 1, 2013) was an American architecture critic known for his advocacy of classical architecture and his outspoken criticism of modernist architecture. Life Born in Manhattan, Reed earned a degree ...
called the lobby "the finest interior in the city" and described the structure as one of several places in New York City where "great art is to be found". David Dunlap of ''The New York Times'' said in 1991 that the Great Hall was "one of New York's most magnificent—and least appreciated—public spaces". The Landmarks Preservation Commission, in its 1995 landmark-designation report, called the hall "among New York's most impressive interiors". In a 2001 book, Daniel Abramson ranked the Cunard Building's Great hall as "among New York's finest monuments to travel", alongside the
Main Concourse The Main Concourse is the primary concourse of Grand Central Terminal, a railway station in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The space is located at the center of the terminal's station building. The distinctive architecture and design of th ...
at
Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal station, terminal located at 42nd Street (Manhattan), 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York Ci ...
and the departure concourse of the old
Pennsylvania Station Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may refer to: Current train stations * Baltimore Penn Station * New York Penn Station ** Pennsylvania Station (1910–1963), the predecessor to the present New York City station * Newark Penn Station Trai ...
.


See also

* List of buildings and structures on Broadway in Manhattan *
List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan below 14th Street The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), formed in 1965, is the Government of New York City, New York City governmental commission that administers the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. Since its founding, it has designated ov ...


References


Notes


Citations


Sources

* * * * ** ** ** ** ** ** * * {{Financial District, Manhattan 1921 establishments in New York City 1920s architecture in the United States Bowling Green (New York City) Broadway (Manhattan) Carrère and Hastings buildings Cunard Line Financial District, Manhattan New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan New York City interior landmarks Office buildings completed in 1921 Historic district contributing properties in Manhattan Skyscraper office buildings in Manhattan