Candler Building (New York City, New York)

 office building, high-rise, 1912_construction, Beaux-Arts (architecture)

341-foot, 24-story Beaux-Arts office/theater building completed in 1912. Designed by Willhauer, Shape & Bready, it was built as the New York headquarters of the Coca-Cola Company and named after its founder Asa Candler. The lot is L-shaped, with a narrow wing extending to 41st Street.

At the time of its completion, the Candler Building was the tallest structure in New York City north of 24th Street. And while the building was a thoroughly state-of-the-art skyscraper in every respect, its windows, balustrades and cornices were adorned with late Gothic and early Renaissance terra-cotta ornamentation. The building is clad in white terra-cotta, consisting of a 5-bay, 24-story section fronting on 42nd street and a 3-bay, 17-story section fronting on 41st street. The main facade on 42nd street consists of a 3-story base; a midsection from the 4th through 17th floors that rises in three uninterrupted bays of windows, ending in arches that echo the base; and a crown from the 18th to 24th floors.

The ground floor has entrances in both end bays, framed in ornately carved terra-cotta and topped by dentiled cornices. The three middle bays are set between engaged marble columns and have sets of metal-and-glass doors and sidelights, and are covered by a broadly-projecting metal marquee lined with bulbs on the underside, and now with a red framework on its three sides, each lined by bulbs at the top and bottom and yellow metal letters filled with bulbs spelling out "McDonald's" on the front, and the famous golden arches on the sides, for the current ground-floor occupant. At the middle bays, the 2nd-3rd floors are filled by double-height round-arches, each divided into triple-windows with glass spandrels; Corinthian columns separate the arches. The shaft begins above these arches, at the 4th floor, with a band course that is decorated with floral ornament at the ends and incised letters spelling "CANDLER" in the center. Each middle bay has paired windows, with glass spandrels - on the 4th floor the windows are divided by slender colonnettes and topped by round-arches with medallions. The three bays terminate in round-arches at the 17th floor. The end bays have single-windows, with stone surrounds and triangular pediments at the 2nd floor. At the 17th floor, the end bays have double-windows flanking the arches.

The 18th floor has large double-windows in the middle bays, set in fields of textured masonry. The 19th-20th floors have double-windows with metal spandrels, capped by a cornice. The end bays have single-windows at the 18th-20th floors, with those on the 18th floor in stone surrounds topped by rounded pediments. The 21st floor has more double-windows in the middle bays, and the end bays are set back. The 22nd-23rd floor have double-height round-arches in the middle bays and set-back end bays, topped by another cornice. The top floor is set back behind a parapet, with single-windows, and is crowned by a sloping green metal roof with a flagpole rising from the apex.

The east and west elevations have two bays of paired windows in the middle and end bays with single-windows. At the upper floors the design closely matches that of the north facade, with continued cornices, arches, and details.

Atttached to the west side of the building is the facade of the former Cohan & Sam H. Harris Theatre, originally built along with the Candler Building as the Candler Theatre, with matching design features on its six floors. Its lobby, fronting 42nd Street, was long and narrow, leading to the auditorium, which was closer to W. 41st Street. The last live show, in late-1933, was not successful, and soon afterwards, the Harris Theatre, like so many of its neighbors, was converted into a motion picture house. For 55 more years, the Harris Theatre remained a first-run movie house, losing most of its original décor as the years went on, including the tapestries, the chandeliers, the side boxes and its large rooftop signage, which had been added during the Harris Theatre’s 1920’s heyday. It finally closed in 1994, and was demolished in 1997, except for the facade, which was retained as the eastern part of the new Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. New set-back floors clad in silver metal were added to the top, connecting with the newer structure. The former-theater's facade has only one main bay, and a narrower side bay at the west, both with entrances at the ground floor. Like the Candler Building, it is clad in white terra-cotta, and the main bay has a tall round-arch ending at the same height as on the Candler Building. There is also a matching cornice above the arch, and two floors of paired windows before a roof cornice and sloping parapet angles up to meet the wall of the taller building. The narrow west bay has single-windows.

On the opposite side of the Candler Building, a similar 5-story wing closely mirrors that of the theater facade, except that the ground floor contains a modernized storefront, and the upper floors are completely covered by signboards. It is occupied by ALDO apparel.

The narrow south facade on 41st Street is clad in beige brick, with a limestone 2nd floor and grey granite 1st floor. The ground floor has a rear entrance to the McDonald's (now closed) and a black metal service door. The 2nd floor is framed by paneled piers and has a central window flanked by metal louvers. Above a stone cornice, the upper floors have three bays of single-windows, with stone surrounds at the 3rd floor. A larger cornice tops the 13th floor, with a smaller one above the 14th, and another large one above the 16th, where the windows have scrolled keystones. The south wing sets back at the 16th floor, with the main tower on the north half of the site rising above it.

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