The Guaranty Building – Preservation Buffalo Niagara with special permission from Hodgson Russ LLC
140 Pearl St.
Adler & Sullivan, 1895-1896
Last Admittance: 3:30pm
Handicap Accessible.
Restrooms Available
Visitor Experience: Built in 1895-1896, the Guaranty Building is a bridge between two centuries, two eras of architectural theory, and a pivotal point in the evolution of the skyscraper. It was originally commissioned by Hascal L. Taylor, a prominent industrialist, who began his career as a carriage manufacturer in Fredonia and later as an oil speculator in Pennsylvania. Taylor’s vision was to build the “largest and best office building in the city” so he purchased land at Pearl and Church streets in April of 1890. He then commissioned the firm of Adler & Sullivan (Dankmar Adler and Louis H. Sullivan), because he thought they were the most innovative designers of tall office buildings at the time. The Guaranty Building was the last joint venture before Adler (the engineering side of the practice) left the firm in 1895 during the building’s construction. Covered with terra cotta blocks it stands as one of the most beautiful examples of Sullivan’s natural ornamentation style and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1975.
Building Description: One of the earliest examples of the American skyscraper, the Guaranty Building, is steel framed. Originally the building was “U”-shaped, with an open court to the south to provide natural light. The light court, in the center of the U, was faced with white glazed tiles to reflect as much light as possible. Upon completion, the total building cost was $500,000 (the equivalent of about $14,856,000 in today’s dollars).
In the 1890s, the steel skeleton skyscraper was a new and uniquely American building type. Most early skyscrapers borrowed heavily from more traditional European design and used strong horizontal lines to de-emphasize their verticality. Sullivan wanted a bold architectural style for the new building type that would express the confidence and prosperity of the United States at the end of the 19th century. He rejected traditional designs and celebrated the skyscraper’s verticality.
While similar to his 1890 Wainwright Building, which combines masonry with terra cotta for ornament, the Guaranty Building makes ornament the focus through the use of terra cotta to cover two full exterior surfaces. The piers between the windows form strong vertical lines that draw the eye upward to the dominant cornice. Despite the technological advancements that made the skyscraper possible, including high-quality structural steel and electric elevators, Sullivan strove to connect the building with the natural world. His ornamentation for the Guaranty was inspired by flowers, seedpods, and, at the top of the building, the spreading branches of a tree.
The Guaranty represents the pinnacle of Sullivan’s forward-thinking design and marks the beginning of the uniquely American style of architecture that influenced the young Frank Lloyd Wright, who worked for Adler and Sullivan from 1888 to 1893. Even after leaving the firm, Wright continued to revere Sullivan, calling him “the Master.”
In 1998, the building was purchased by Hodgson Russ to serve as the firm’s principal Buffalo Office. Eight years later the firm began an extensive multi-year renovation project to restore the building’s interior and its terra cotta façade to its former glory.
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