The Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Building, locally called the "Boat Building", is a notable Modernist office building located on

Constitution Plaza Constitution Plaza is a large commercial mixed-use development in Downtown Hartford, Connecticut. Construction Constitution Plaza was built for $42 million and completed in stages from 1961 to 1964. Its planning and construction were spearheade ...

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

. Designed by

Max Abramovitz Max Abramovitz (May 23, 1908 – September 12, 2004) was an American architect. He was best known for his work with the New York City firm Harrison & Abramovitz. Life Abramovitz was the son of Romanian Jewish immigrant parents. He graduate ...

and completed in 1963, it is 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 ...

and is the world's first two-sided building.The Phoenix Building, Hartford
/ref> It is home to Nassau Financial Group.

Description and history

The Phoenix Building is located east of the commercial core of downtown Hartford, on a block bounded by Columbus Boulevard and State, Prospect, and Grove Streets. It is set on an elevated plaza, which is connected by a footbridge to

, a contemporaneous development to the north, and to later developments to the east and south. The location is highly visible from local highways. The area under the plaza includes a parking garage and other service areas, and is partially taken up by a sunken plaza with fountain. Office spaces with floor-to-ceiling windows line the sunken portion of the plaza. The main tower is located off-center on the northwest part of the plaza, and is oriented roughly east–west. The 13-story tower has only two curved sides, in an unusual and striking shape variously termed an elliptic lenticular cylinder or lenticular hyperboloid. Its height is ; it measures 225 feet on its long axis, and 87 feet wide at its maximum width. It is supported by steel columns, and its floors consist of steel panels with integrated service conduits, with concrete poured on top. The windows are fashioned with interlocking frames, eliminating the need for visible

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

s. Mullions are placed at every third bay anyway, grooved to allow for use by window-cleaning equipment. The lobby area at the plaza level is rectangle recessed entirely beneath the bulk of the tower, with the overhanging sections of the tower supported by splayed steel beams. The building was designed by the nationally renowned architect

Harrison & Abramovitz Harrison & Abramovitz (also known as Harrison, Fouilhoux & Abramovitz; Harrison, Abramovitz, & Abbe; and Harrison, Abramovitz, & Harris) was an American architectural firm based in New York and active from 1941 through 1976. The firm was a partner ...

, whose previous work included coordinating the work on the

United Nations headquarters The United Nations is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States, and the complex has served as the official headquarters of the United Nations since its completion in 1951. It is in the Turtle Bay, Manhattan, Turtle Bay neig ...

and

Avery Fisher Hall David Geffen Hall is a concert hall in New York City's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The 2,200-seat auditorium opened in 1962, and is the home of the New York Philharmonic. The facility, desi ...

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

. The contractor was George A. Fuller Company. Groundbreaking was in 1961, with construction complete in November 1963. The building has been an architectural landmark in the city since its construction, occupying a highly-visible location near the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...

and major highways.

Gallery

Image:Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Building, Hartford CT - side.JPG Image:Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Building, Hartford CT - detail.JPG

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Skyscraper office buildings in Connecticut Modernist architecture in Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Hartford, Connecticut Skyscrapers in Hartford, Connecticut Office buildings completed in 1963

Description and history

Gallery

See also

References