The B B Chemical Company is an historic office and industrial building at 784 Memorial Drive in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. It was built in 1937 for the Boston Blacking Company, an adhesive manufacturer whose most famous brand name was ''Bostik'', to a design by Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch & Abbott, and is a prominent local example of

Streamline Moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by Aerodynamics, aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In indu ...

architecture. From 1979 to 1996, it served as the headquarters of the

Polaroid Corporation Polaroid Corporation was an American company that made instant film and cameras, which survives as a brand for consumer electronics. The company was founded in 1937 by Edwin H. Land, to exploit his Polaroid (polarizer), Polaroid polarizing polyme ...

. The building was added to the

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 ...

in 1982 under the incorrect name "B and B Chemical Company". It is now owned by The Bulfinch Companies of

Needham, Massachusetts Needham ( ) is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb of Boston, its population was 32,091 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census. It is the home of Olin College. History ...

Description and history

The former B B Chemical Company building is located in the

Cambridgeport Cambridgeport is one of the neighborhoods of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is bounded by Massachusetts Avenue, the Charles River, the Grand Junction Railroad, and River Street. The neighborhood contains predominantly residential homes, many of ...

neighborhood of Cambridge, on the east side of Memorial Drive between River Street and Pleasant Street Extension. It is a basically rectangular structure, with a four-story central section flanked by three-storey wings. It has a frame of steel and concrete, and is mainly faced in buff brick. The central section is recessed from the wings, but a projecting cornice on the wings extends over the recess area to provide a curved canopy over the entrance. The central part of the center section is even taller, with a projecting rounded window bay topped by a clock face. The wings are symmetrical, with the ground floor composed mainly of glass blocks interspersed with regularly spaced horizontal windows. The upper floors are defined by long bands of horizontal windows. The building was designed by Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch & Abbott and built in 1937 for the B B Chemical Company, a subsidiary of the

United Shoe Machinery Corporation United Shoe Machinery Corporation (USMC) was a U.S.-based manufacturing companies, manufacturer of various industrial machinery, particularly for the shoe manufacture, shoe manufacturing industry and monopolized the American shoe machinery busi ...

since 1929. In 1946, it described itself as supplying "adhesives and related compounds for the shoe leather, aircraft, rubber clothing and shipbuilding industries". The facility, which include a more simply designed second building behind this one, produced adhesives used in the shoe manufacturing process at other plants. It served as the headquarters for the

starting in 1979. It is now owned by The Bulfinch Companies, and is occupied by Harvard University's Information Technology group (HUIT).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:B B Chemical Company Industrial buildings completed in 1937 Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Cambridge, Massachusetts Streamline Moderne architecture in Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Description and history

See also

References