The Lawyers Building is an
office building
An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific dut ...
located at 137
Cadillac Square
Campus Martius Park ( ') is a re-established park in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. After the fire of 1805, Campus Martius (from the Latin for ''Field of Mars'', where Roman heroes walked) was the focal point of Judge Augustus Woodward's plans to ...
in downtown
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
. It was also known as the American Title Building. The building was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1982.
History
The Lawyers Building was built in 1922, the first building erected by
John J. Barlum and his family in their rebuilding of the Cadillac Square area.
[Lawyers Building](_blank)
from the state of Michigan The building originally catered to middle class level tenants, including many unions and benevolent organizations.
It later was renamed the American Title Building, and the upper floors were closed in the 1980s. Renovation of the building began in 2017, and a new hotel opened in the building in 2019.
Description
The Lawyers Building was designed in the
Chicago School architectural style
An architectural style is a set of characteristics and features that make a building or other structure notable or historically identifiable. It is a sub-class of style in the visual arts generally, and most styles in architecture relate closely ...
, and is constructed of reinforced concrete and steel faced with
terra cotta
Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous.
In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...
. It stands at 10 floors in height, featuring regular bays with grouped wood casement windows with metal spandrel panels.
It was one of the few office buildings of the time that strove for modernism over ornamentation.
[Lawyers Building ](_blank)
from the city of Detroit It is currently the finest nearly unaltered Chicago-style highrise in Detroit; the only change made to the building is the modern marble ground-level storefront.
The building is located east of the larger
New Cadillac Square Apartments and
Cadillac Tower
The Cadillac Tower is a 40-story, Neo-Gothic skyscraper designed by the architectural firm of Bonnah & Chaffee at 65 Cadillac Square in Downtown Detroit, Michigan, not far from the Renaissance Center. The building's materials include terra cot ...
(both also built by Barlum),
[Detroit History of Cadillac Square](_blank)
from New Cadillac Square Apartments and west of
Wayne County Building
The Wayne County Building is a monumental government structure located at 600 Randolph Street in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. It formerly contained the Wayne County administrative offices – now located in the Guardian Building at 500 Griswold ...
, at the corner of Cadillac Square, and Randolph Avenue. It was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1982.
See also
* Other buildings designed by Bonnah & Chaffee:
:*
Cadillac Tower
The Cadillac Tower is a 40-story, Neo-Gothic skyscraper designed by the architectural firm of Bonnah & Chaffee at 65 Cadillac Square in Downtown Detroit, Michigan, not far from the Renaissance Center. The building's materials include terra cot ...
:*
Merchants Building
The Merchants Building is a commercial building located at 206 East Grand River Avenue (at Broadway Street) in Downtown Detroit. It is also known as the Broadway Merchants Building. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1 ...
References
External links
Google Maps location of Lawyer Building*
*
Skyscraper office buildings in Detroit
Office buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
National Register of Historic Places in Detroit
Office buildings completed in 1922
Chicago school architecture in Michigan
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