Stone & Webster Building (New York City, New York)

 office building, 1930_construction

313-foot, 25-story office building completed in 1930. Designed by Cross & Cross, it was engineered to support up to 25 additional stories that were never built. The limestone facade combines spare modernism with classical inspired ornament. The Broad Street elevation is organized as a 3-story base and a shaft of 13 floors rising to a setback; the remaining floors rise in a series of additional modest setbacks. The base, faced in flat stone blocks, has three double-height plain rectangular openings; the central one functions as the building's main entrance, while the two side openings as used as storefronts. Each of these openings is set within a simple, slightly-projecting stone frame. The central entrance has elaborate ornamental gold metalwork, including a projecting marquee and arched transom.

Each of the three openings is flanked by two simple windows, a tall rectangular windows at the first story, and and a shorter window at the 2nd story. The 3rd floor has a set of simple windows, topped by a ribbed band course, above which rises the shaft. The shaft is designed as a grid of wall and windows by a series of plain, uninterrupted bands of stone set both vertically and horizontally. It is only in the upper floors, at each setback, that the plain limestone wall sprouts elaborate classical ornament, including projecting cornices and a variety of Greek-inspired motifs, especially at the corners. The Bridge and Stone Street elevations are almost identical in design to the Broad Street facade.

The ground floor is occupied by Stone Nails, Stone Street Newsstand, Potbelly sandwich shop, Dunkin' Donuts, and Just Salad.

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