Bayard-Condict Building

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Bayard-Condict Building, New York City

The Bayard-Condict Building, originally known simply as the Bayard Building, is the only work of architect Louis Sullivan in New York. The building is located at 65 Bleecker Street, in the NoHo neighbourhood of New York City and built in association with architect Lyndon P, Smith between 1897 and 1899 in the Chicago School style.

This commercial office building is clad in white terra cotta over a masonry wall. The Bayard Building was one of the first steel skeleton frame skyscrapers in New York City and the Department of Buildings raised numerous objections to the design before the plans were finally accepted. ^[1]

At 13 stories and 162 feet (49 meters) high, the building does not attempt to disguise its height, but rather accentuates it by leaving relatively undecorated mullions and pilasters. Sullivan's signature ornate floral designs decorate the base and top of the facade, and across the spandrels below the window openings. Figural sculptures of angels were added at the request of the client, over Sullivan's objections. Among other clients it houses the offices of the Andy Warhol Foundation.

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In 2000, WASA/Studio A, a NYC-based architecture and engineering firm, designed and oversaw the careful restoration of the exterior of the Bayard-Condict Building. Of the 7,000 terra cotta units, 1,300 were found to be cracked and required removal. Of these, only 30 units were damaged beyond repair and were replicated. The remainder were epoxied and blind pinned, and then reinstalled. At some point in the building's history, the original storefronts were replaced with insensitive commercial aluminum storefronts. This "renovation" removed the extravagently ornate original column capitals; only one survived in the basement of the Brooklyn Museum. When the storefronts were restored by others, WASA/Studio A had the column capitals replicated based on the surviving original and reinstalled.