Simms Building
| Simms Building | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Alternative names | Sandia Savings Bank Building |
| General information | |
| Type | Commercial offices |
| Architectural style | International style |
| Location | 400 Gold Avenue SW Albuquerque, New Mexico |
| Coordinates | 35°04′59″N 106°39′08″W / 35.0830°N 106.6521°WCoordinates: 35°04′59″N 106°39′08″W / 35.0830°N 106.6521°W |
| Completed | 1954 |
| Height | |
| Roof | 54.86 m (180.0 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 13 |
| Floor area | 114,000 sq ft (10,600 m2) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Flatow & Moore |
|
Simms Building
|
|
| NRHP reference # | 97001653 |
| NMSRCP # | 1693 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | February 2, 1998 |
| Designated NMSRCP | November 21, 1997 |
| References | |
The Simms Building is a 13-story, 55 m (180 ft) highrise in at 400 Gold Avenue SW in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is the city's first modern, International Style skyscraper, and when completed in 1954, it became the tallest building in the state until the neighboring Gold Building was completed seven years later. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. The Simms Building is a contemporary of the similar Lever House in New York City, and it was erected on the site of the old sandstone Commercial Club building.
Like the Gold Building, the Simms Building has windowless brick walls on the east and west sides and glass curtain walls on the other two faces. It was designed in 1952 by Flatow & Moore, the same firm responsible, ten years later, for the Dennis Chavez Federal Building one block to the west.
The Simms Building was commissioned in 1952 by banker and former Congressman Albert G. Simms, who had owned the old Commercial Club building on the site since 1932. The building was designed by Max Flatow and Jason Moore, two local architects who had just started what would become one of the city's most prominent architecture firms, Flatow, Moore, Bryan, and Fairburn. Flatow and Moore designed a 12-story building in the International style, reflecting the latest trends in modern architecture; the style had only recently been adapted to highrise buildings like the Lake Shore Drive Apartments (1951), United Nations Building (1952), and Lever House (1952). The architects also chose to keep a link to the past by reusing sandstone blocks from the Commercial Club in some of the ground-floor exterior walls. The Simms Building was intended to be a symbol of progress and modernity for the growing city of Albuquerque.
...
Wikipedia