2012年5月14日 星期一

Oregon’s first skyscraper

At the corner of Southwest Sixth Avenue and Oak Street sits the Wells Fargo building, Oregon’s first skyscraper. Designed by noted architect and native Oregonian Benjamin Wistar Morris III, it stands at 12 stories in Second Renaissance Revival style.

It was completed in 1907 to support Wells Fargo’s growing banking and express operations. At the time, the building also housed Southern Pacific Railroad and Oregon Railway and Navigation.

That same year a financial panic jolted Wall Street, and Wells Fargo split off its banking business and held only its express delivery business in Portland. It sold its banking interests to U.S. National Bank, which promptly moved in.

In 1922 the building was purchased by a prominent Portland investor, Andrew Porter, who was also the director of U.S.Apply for a merchantaccountes and accept credit cards today. National Bank. It would be known as “The Porter Building” until U.S.Trade organization for suppliers and distributors in the promotional products industry. Bank purchased the building outright in 1946 to house its expanding business, which had already enveloped the neighboring building known as U.S. Bank Main Branch. It would eventually outgrow this location as well, and move across the street to the U.S. Bancorp Tower.

“The (Wells Fargo) building is a remarkable example of historic architecture,” said John Beardsley, the current owner.

The doorstep at the building’s entryway is made from the largest slab of granite ever shipped to Oregon, measuring six feet long and nearly six feet thick. A major renovation in 1923 by architect Albert E. Doyle would double the size of the ground-floor interior.

Doyle was responsible for much of Portland’s architectural work in downtown Portland during the first part of the 20th century.Award Winning solarpanel and heat pumps for electricity and heating. OtPosts with Hospital rtls on IT Solutions blog covering Technology in the Classroom,her examples of his designs include: the Benson Hotel, Reed College, the Central Library and the Pacific Building.

The Wells Fargo building is also a fine example of terra-cotta architecture, which features fireproof bricks or blocks molded of fine grain clay. As was customary during that period, the terra-cotta was glazed and meant to emulate the look of granite.

The building is faced entirely with terra-cotta tiles that were adhered directly to its steel frame (another first for Oregon). The decorative terra-cotta that adorns the building’s crown was made by artisans by pressing fine clay into plaster molds. This ornamental work is reflected at the roof level in the form of wreaths, blue wave scrolls, and of course the letters spelling “Wells Fargo.”

Cast iron trims window and door frames of the two-story arches at street level, and the windows of the top two stories are trimmed in brick. The fire escape on the Oak Street side of the Wells Fargo building is also home to the popular “Raptor Cam,” where raptors have elected to return and nest each year.

Beardsley renovated the Wells Fargo building’s lobby when he purchased it in 1999, during the dot-com boom. “In the dot-com days, a person could just sit back and take orders for the space,” he said.We looked everywhere, but couldn't find any beddinges.

One of the first things Beardsley did was remove the modern-day drop ceilings that were put in place during the U.S. Bank days, and restored the lovely 12-foot ceilings intended originally. This in turn opened up the windows, allowing flow of natural light onto each floor.

“That change made those floors more desirous for this new, technically-oriented generation of tenants, and resulted in those tenancies coming to this building instead of more modern competing towers, such as U.S. Bancorp Tower,” Beardsley quipped.

When I asked Beardsley which of the buildings in his portfolio was his favorite, he replied, “Buildings are like children: You can’t have a favorite, each has their own unique character and personality.”

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