Wainwright Building
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Wainwright Building
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Wainwright Building, spring 1986
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| Location | St. Louis, Missouri |
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| Coordinates | 38°37′37″N 90°11′32″W / 38.62694°N 90.19222°WCoordinates: 38°37′37″N 90°11′32″W / 38.62694°N 90.19222°W |
| Built | 1891 |
| Architect | Adler & Sullivan |
| Architectural style | Chicago school |
| NRHP Reference # | 68000054 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | May 23, 1968 |
| Designated NHL | May 23, 1968 |
The Wainwright Building (also known as the Wainwright State Office Building) is a 10-story red brick office building at 709 Chestnut Street in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. The Wainwright Building is among the first skyscrapers in the world. It was designed by Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan in the Palazzo style and built between 1890 and 1891. It was named for local brewer, building contractor, and financier Ellis Wainwright.
The building, listed as a landmark both locally and nationally, is described as "a highly influential prototype of the modern office building" by the National Register of Historic Places. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright called the Wainwright Building "the very first human expression of a tall steel office-building as Architecture."
The building is currently owned by the State of Missouri and houses state offices.
In May 2013 it was listed by a PBS program as one of "10 Buildings That Changed America" because it was "the first skyscraper that truly looked the part" with Sullivan being dubbed the "Father of Skyscrapers."
The Wainwright building was commissioned by Ellis Wainwright, a St. Louis brewer. Wainwright needed office space to manage the St Louis Brewers Association. It was the second major commission for a tall building won by the Adler & Sullivan firm, which had grown to international prominence after the creation of the ten-story Auditorium Building in Chicago (designed in 1886 and completed in 1889). As designed, the first floor of the Wainwright Building was intended for street-accessible shops, with the second floor filled with easily accessible public offices. The higher floors were for "honeycomb" offices, while the top floor was for water tanks and building machinery.
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