Union Carbide Building (New York City, New York)

 office building, skyscraper, 1960_construction, historical layer / disappeared object, International style architecture

707-foot, 52-story International-style office building completed in 1960. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (Gordon Brunshaft & Natalie de Blois), it was originally called the Union Carbide Building. It served as the headquarters for Union Carbide until the company moved to Danbury, Connecticut. It served as the world headquarters for JPMorgan Chase and had one of the larger Chase branches in the lobby level.

The building consists of the main tower portion facing Park Avenue, and a 13-story wing extending west to Madison Avenue. The two masses are joined by a narrower 13-story section in the center, recessed on both the north and south sides. The west wing is set back above the 10th floor, with extensive HVAC equipment on the roof. The main tower is rectangular, clad in a curtain wall of black-painted stainless-steel piers and spandrels, clear glass, and thin stainless-steel mullions (as is the lower west wing). The mullions divide each bay into four windows on the east and west facades, which have seven bays, and two half-bays at the ends. The north and south facades have three wider bays of nine windows (middle) and eight windows (ends).

There is a long row of loading docks along the ground floor of the west wing on 48th Street. There are long, black metal canopies extending out toward the sidewalk on both and north and south sides from the recessed "waist" section between the two main building masses, leading to glass doors, with additional multiple main entrances on Park Avenue. There are two bands of reflective glass concealing mechanical floors that roughly divide the tower into thirds, as well as double-height mechanical levels at the top, with black vents.

It was announced in January 2019 that J.P. Morgan will be dismantling the building, to be replaced by a supertall tower by Foster + Partners which should be completed by 2024. It will be the largest intentional demolition in history. The interim world headquarters was moved to 383 Madison Avenue.

www.6sqft.com/demolition-permits-filed-for-worlds-talle...