The Butterfield Center is a
New Brutalist structure in
downtown
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
.
Designed by
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...
architecture professor
David Lee Smithnd Donald E. Stevens, the building promotes the structural and systems materials (concrete, ductwork, etc.) themselves by leaving them exposed.
[''Cincinnati Enquirer'', June 25, 2006, "A New Home"]
The Butterfield Recreation Center (also known as the Butterfield Nutrition Center, also known as the Butterfield Senior Center) was closed in 2004 as a result of push to cut $4.2 million from the budgets of several city departments
In 2005, design firm
Libby Perszyk Kathman (LPK) purchased the Butterfield Center along with the
Marcus Fechheimer House, with the vision to conjoin the buildings and create a new headquarters and meeting space.
The Fechheimer House, which is also known locally as the Cuvier Press Club, also served as a part of the senior citizens' center from 1977 until 2004.
[''Cincinnati Enquirer'', January 28, 2005, "Design firm proposes to buy ex-senior center"] LPK restored the Fechheimer mansion and commissioned Cincinnati firm FRCH Design Worldwide to plan the design for the connection of the two buildings.
References
Buildings and structures in Cincinnati
{{Cincinnati-stub