Mohawk Building (New York City, New York)

 office building  Add category

139-foot, 9-story Renaissance-revival office building completed in 1892. Designed by R.H. Robertson, the building was designed to contain large showrooms on the lower floors and office space above, and served as headquarters throughout the 1920's for E.H. Van Ingen & Company, a large importer of woolen goods. Clad in red brick with contrasting sandstone trim, the exterior is now painted light grey.

The Fifth Avenue facade of the Mohawk Building is divided into four horizontal sections, distinguished by variations in window treatment. The rectilinear design of the facade, articulated by brick piers and horizontal bands of sandstone, emphasizes the structural frame of the building. Restrained classical details highlight the geometric composition. The contrast in color between the red brick and the sandstone is no longer visible under the light grey paint on the exterior, although the textural qualities of the materials are still apparent. Stone piers divide the ground story into four bays containing storefronts with modern glass and metal infill. The original Ionic entrance portico, once located at the southernmost bay, is no longer extant. It has been replaced by a granite doorway. The ground story is capped by a stone cornice ornamented with dentils and an egg-and-dart molding.

The 2nd, 3rd & 4th floors have paired windows set in stone surrounds that are slightly recessed behind broad, brick piers. Between each floor in each of the four bays is a key-pattern frieze dotted with rosettes. The slender stone mullions which separate the windows are topped at the 4th floor with scrolled brackets. A simple, stone cornice surmounts the 4th floor projecting slightly above the window bays where it is ornamented with dentils and egg-and-dart molding.

The 5th, 6th & 7th floors feature single-windows set in simple stone surrounds, which are slightly recessed behind alternating broad and narrow brick piers. The molded surrounds have small scrolls turned in at the lower corners of the windows. Narrow stone bands bisect the piers at each floor, and wide continuous stone bands wrap around each floor above the window lintels. The 7th floor is capped by a string course. The 8th & 9th floors are clad in stone and joined by a double-height colonnade of engaged Ionic columns, forming eight bays. Above the 9th floor is a plain parapet wall where the copper cornice was once located.

The facade on West 21st Street features the same overall design and articulation of detail as the Fifth Avenue facade, but it is six bays wide instead of four. The copper cornice is extant. At the 5th, 6th & 7th floors the two windows at each end have shallow brackets set in the reveals. The storefronts have the original iron frames at the top and bottom, but the infill has been replaced with plate glass. The westernmost bay is a driveway.

Office space on the upper floors of the Mohawk Building were leased to many famed architects, decorators, publishers, and cloak and suit merchants. The ground floor is occupied by Ralph's Coffee, and Club Monaco apparel and retains some of its interior ornamentation. In 2018, the entire building was purchased by the Simons Foundation. Alterations have been made by Moed de Armas & Shannon for the prior owner, RFR Realty, and more recently by TPG Architecture.

montroydemarco.com/project/160-fifth-avenue/
www1.nyc.gov/assets/lpc/downloads/pdf/presentation-mate...