Wainwright Building

Wainwright Building
w_lemay · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
Name	Wainwright Building
Location	St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Built	1890–1891
Architect	Adler & Sullivan
Architecture	Chicago school, Early skyscraper
Added	1968 (National Historic Landmark)

Wainwright Building

The Wainwright Building is an early skyscraper in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, designed by the firm Adler & Sullivan and completed in 1891 for the merchant Ellery Wainwright (sometimes cited as Louis Wainwright), commissioned during the era of rapid urban growth paralleling developments in Chicago, Illinois, New York City, Boston, Massachusetts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Cleveland, Ohio. It became prominent in discussions among critics and historians such as Louis Sullivan, Daniel Burnham, Frank Lloyd Wright, Cass Gilbert, and Adolf Loos for its expression of verticality and the emergence of the Chicago school as a definable movement alongside contemporaneous work by Henry Hobson Richardson and firms like Burnham and Root and McKim, Mead & White. The building is recognized by the National Park Service, the National Historic Landmark program, and local preservation bodies in Missouri.

History

Commissioned by the entrepreneur backed by investors linked to Missouri Pacific Railroad and local commerce tied to the Erie Railroad and Wabash Railway, the project unfolded during the same decade that saw the Great Chicago Fire rebuild and the World's Columbian Exposition debates about skyscraper aesthetics. Construction began as industrial expansion and financial instruments including bonds underwritten by regional banks and trustees associated with Commerce Bank supported speculative office development. The client engaged the architectural partnership of Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan, both of whom had established reputations after projects like the Auditorium Building in Chicago and municipal commissions for theaters and synagogues linked to patrons such as Emil G. Hirsch and institutions like Hull House. Critical responses appeared in periodicals including The Inland Architect, Harper's Weekly, and The Architectural Record, while contemporaneous architects such as John Wellborn Root and critics tied to The Chicago Tribune debated its formal program.

Architecture and design

The Wainwright exemplifies principles articulated by Louis Sullivan and his contemporaries in essays and treatises associated with debates over modern architecture alongside texts by Viollet-le-Duc, John Ruskin, and later commentators like Sigfried Giedion. Its facades emphasize vertical piers and recessed spandrels to produce an upward thrust akin to schemes proposed by Daniel Burnham and executed by firms such as William Le Baron Jenney and Peter J. Weber. Ornamentation by Sullivan recalls motifs used in the Carson Pirie Scott Building and echoes organic references discussed in exhibitions at institutions like the Art Institute of Chicago and collections in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The building engages urban contexts near transit corridors once served by St. Louis–San Francisco Railway and streetcar lines operated by companies like St. Louis Public Service Company, contributing to the dialogue with commercial palazzi in New York City and speculative towers in Chicago, Illinois.

Construction and materials

Built using a load-bearing steel-frame strategy developed contemporaneously with work by William Le Baron Jenney, the structure incorporated masonry cladding with terra-cotta ornamentation produced by firms competing with manufacturers such as Gorham Manufacturing Company in decorative trades. Structural engineering solutions reflected innovations from projects by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and later translations of techniques championed by engineers at the American Society of Civil Engineers. Materials sourced through regional supply chains included brick from suppliers in Missouri and limestone reminiscent of façades found in Cleveland, Ohio and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, while glazing and metalwork paralleled shopfront innovations by companies like R. H. Macy & Co. suppliers and storefront fabricators working with Marshall Field establishments.

Interior layout and function

Originally planned as speculative office space, the Wainwright housed legal firms, insurance brokers, and merchants linked to trade networks such as the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce and financial services connected to institutions like Laclede Gas Company and Third National Bank. Its vertical circulation incorporated passenger elevators influenced by patents and practices by companies such as Otis Elevator Company and lobby planning consistent with precedents in the Auditorium Building and office blocks in Chicago. Interior finishes included pressed-metal ceilings, decorative tiles, and ornamental ironwork reflecting motifs used in commissions by Sullivan for clients like H. H. Richardson-era patrons and municipal clients. Mechanical systems evolved over the twentieth century to reflect standards promulgated by organizations including the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.

Influence and legacy

Architectural historians and critics such as Henry-Russell Hitchcock, Philip Johnson, Nikolaus Pevsner, and Vincent Scully have cited the Wainwright in surveys of American modernism and the transition from nineteenth-century eklektizizm to twentieth-century international trends represented by figures like Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Its formal logic influenced skyscraper typologies in cities including Chicago, New York City, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Detroit, and informed municipal zoning dialogues later codified in laws such as the 1916 New York zoning resolution. Scholarly work at universities including Harvard University, Columbia University, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, and Washington University in St. Louis continues to assess its role relative to landmark projects like the Home Insurance Building and the Flatiron Building.

Preservation and restoration

Recognized as a National Historic Landmark in the 1960s and subject to local designation by St. Louis historic commissions, the Wainwright has undergone rehabilitations guided by standards from the National Park Service and case studies in reports by the Association for Preservation Technology International and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Restoration campaigns involved conservators who worked with terracotta specialists and firms experienced on projects at the Carson Pirie Scott Building and the Rookery Building, and funding drew on tax-credit mechanisms similar to those administered by the Historic Preservation Fund and state historic tax credit programs. Ongoing stewardship connects the building to urban revitalization efforts championed by organizations such as Landmarks Illinois, Historic St. Louis Foundation, and municipal redevelopment agencies.

Category:Buildings and structures in St. Louis Category:National Historic Landmarks in Missouri