40 West 27th Street

 office building, 1910_construction, Beaux-Arts (architecture)

150-foot, 12-story Beaux-Arts office building completed in 1910. Designed by Buchman & Fox as a loft building, it is clad in limestone, brick and terra-cotta. The ground floor has a main entrance at the east end, a service entrance at the west end, and a projecting storefront in the middle. The 3-story base has rusticated limestone piers sitting on granite bases, paneled and bracketed cast-iron columns, and splayed keystones on the 3rd floor. The 2nd floor has four bays of windows separated by black cast-iron pilasters topped by scrolled brackets. Two transoms top each bay, between the brackets on the pilasters; the 2nd from eastern bay has been replaced by a single pane below the transoms - the rest have double-windows. A modillioned cornice caps the 2nd floor, and a brackets cornice tops the 3rd.

The midsection is clad in beige brick, six bays across. Band courses divide the shaft into 2-story sections, serving as sill courses for the lower floor in each section. The upper floor in each section has projecting, bracketed stone sills, and all the windows have splayed brick lintels. A cornice at the top of the 10th floor is similar to the one at the 3rd floor, but also has dentil and small cartouches at alternating piers.

The top two floors have paneled piers with Corinthian orders, cast-iron columns, and elaborate spandrels. The original roof cornice has been removed and replaced by a parapet. The western elevation is clad in brown brick, with four bays of windows above the 6th floor, toward the rear half of the building. The ground floor is occupied by Wali USA importer/wholesaler.