Paramount Building (New York City, New York)

431-foot, 33-story Art-Deco/Beaux-Arts office building completed in 1927. Designed by C.W. & George L. Rapp for Paramount Pictures, the building (with its distinctive clock tower and crowning globe) was the tallest structure on Broadway north of the Woolworth Building and its illuminated glass globe could be seen as far as New Jersey.

The Paramount Building occupies the entire 200-foot block front on the west side of Broadway between 43rd and 44th Streets, and extends 207 feet on the side streets. Clad in beige brick with a base and trim of contrasting limestone, the building is composed of two sections: a 33-story setback skyscraper with a clock tower, fronting on Broadway, and a lower wing to the rear, (which once housed the Paramount Theater). Although the Paramount Building's ornamental details are largely inspired by the French Beaux-Arts style, its massing reflects a modern current in 1920s office building design, characterized by a series of setbacks on all four sides.

A continuous 5-story base joins the two sections of the building. Above ground floor storefronts (not original), rise 3-story rusticated limestone piers framing large, tripartite windows. These have iron mullions and spandrels ornamented with classical moldings, festoons, masks, scrolls, and figural motifs relating to the theater.

A bronze double-height entrance, located just north of the center of the Broadway facade, is set in a simple limestone enframement with a projecting lintel. The distinctive entranceway has the same tripartite configuration as the windows at the base level, with a central, revolving door and two single doors of glass framed in brass. These are surmounted by decorative cresting and a clock framed by two scrolled brackets, topped by such classical motifs as a bearded, theatrical mask, horns, and an urn. Above the doors are two tripartite windows separated by brass mullions and spandrel panels also featuring classical and theatrical motifs. The central panel has an oval cartouche surrounded by foliage containing comedy and tragedy masks in profile and a 3-part horn. Musical instruments and masks also embellish the two side panels. This was the main entrance until 2016, when a new main entrance was created on 43rd Street, due to crowding on the newly-created Times Square Plaza in front of the building. The new main entrance is framed in limestone and covered by a marquee.

To the south, in the two bays adjoining the southernmost bay, is the former entrance to the theater, now the entrance to the Hard Rock Cafe. It was removed in 1969 when the theater was closed, and altered to match the other bays. This grand arched entrance was reconstructed in 2000, completed with an elaborate, curved marquee and 4-story round-arch lined with intricate carvings including flowers and two figures flanking a central cartouche at the apex of the arch. Above the arch, "Paramount" is spelled out in arched script letters, lit with bulbs.

One story of one-over-one, metal-clad windows framed by festooned, oval cartouches caps the base and makes a transition to the brick-faced upper portion of the building, where one-over-one, metal-clad windows are divided into bays by a rhythm of plain and rusticated piers. The vertical emphasis is visually continued in the upper setback stories, where the rusticated piers project from the building. These piers, grouped in pairs, culminate in trapezoidal stone finials at the setbacks.

The massing of the upper stories is distinguished by six setbacks, stepping back regularly from the 18th floor on the Broadway facade and side elevations. The rear elevation rises to the 26th floor before stepping back to the 28th floor, where it sets back sharply, forming a portion only two bays deep located toward the front of the building that rises from this level. Paneled stone parapets and trapezoidal finials highlight the setbacks. Flanking the sides between the 28th and 30th floors, overscaled consoles give the building a sculptural silhouette and make a transition to the clock tower.

On the Broadway facade and rear elevation, the clocks, approximately two stories high, are faced in limestone. These clocks have round glass panels, flush with the stone, which are inset with stars marking the hours, and protruding metal hands. They are flanked by the uppermost setback, which at the front and rear of the building is articulated by large, oval stone cartouches framed by rusticated piers. Affixed to the side elevations at this level are metal-framed clocks, of the same design but slightly smaller and one story lower that those front and rear. A stone base for the glass globe capping the building surmounts the clocks; it is ornamented with a stylized wave frieze and four trapezoidal finials at the corners. The globe, constructed of 90 panes of glass encased in copper and measuring 19 feet in diameter, is set on a molded copper pedestal.

The rear wing of the Paramount Building, visible on 43rd and 44th Streets, is articulated by plain piers separating double-hung windows above the continuous base. The 9th floor has no windows. On 43rd Street, the rear wing rises 12 stories and features a row of classical cartouches at the parapet. On 44th Street, this section rises nine stories; the parapet has a row of festooned, oval openings, with three acroteria at regular intervals above. These are in the form of convex oval cartouches with decorative surrounds. The westernmost bay on 44th Street rises to 12 stories, sets back to 14, and is marked by stone detailing at the top of each level.

During the heyday of the Paramount Theater such performers as Benny Goodman, Jack Benny, Tommy Dorsey, Leo Fuld, Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis appeared and were mobbed by fans waiting for a glimpse of them from outside the theater. Elvis and Buddy Holly appeared during one of the many rock and roll shows that were presented in the 1950s and 1960s. The theater closed in 1967.

Currently, a part of the old theater basement now houses The New York Hard Rock Cafe. The rest of the ground floor is occupied by Lids hats, Taco Bell Cantina, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Raising Cane's chicken, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Carmine's restaurant, and Starlite Deli.

daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2010/08/1926-art-deco-pa...
usmodernist.org/AMAR/AMAR-1927-0306.pdf

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