Simms Building

Simms Building
Alternative names Sandia Savings Bank Building
General information
Type Commercial offices
Architectural style International style
Location 400 Gold Avenue SW
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Coordinates 35°04′59″N 106°39′08″W / 35.0830°N 106.6521°WCoordinates: 35°04′59″N 106°39′08″W / 35.0830°N 106.6521°W
Completed 1954
Height
Roof 54.86 m (180.0 ft)
Technical details
Floor count 13
Floor area 114,000 sq ft (10,600 m2)[1]
Design and construction
Architect Flatow, Moore, Bryan and Fairburn
Simms Building
Governing body Private
NRHP Reference # 97001653
Added to NRHP February 2, 1998
References
[2][3][4][5]

The Simms Building is a 13-story, 55 m (180 ft) highrise in at 400 Gold Avenue SW in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is the city's first modern, International Style skyscraper, and when completed in 1954, it became the tallest building in the state until the neighboring Gold Building was completed seven years later. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.[5] The Simms Building is a contemporary of the similar Lever House in New York City, and it was erected on the site of the old sandstone Commercial Club building.

Like the Gold Building, the Simms Building has windowless brick walls on the east and west sides and glass curtain walls on the other two faces. It was designed by Flatow, Moore, Bryan, and Fairburn, the same firm responsible for the Dennis Chavez Federal Building one block to the west.

The Simms Building is used in Breaking Bad as the DEA office of character Agent Hank Schrader.[6] Ironically, there is a historic Federal Building in the same block, the Federal Building and United States Courthouse, built in 1930, located at 421 Gold Avenue SW in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is part of the complex of federal buildings on Gold Avenue that includes the Old Post Office, Dennis Chavez Federal Building, and the Federal Building at 517 Gold Avenue SW.

References

  1. Moskos, Harry (August 15, 2004). "Where It's Happening". The Albuquerque Journal.
  2. Simms Building at Emporis
  3. Simms Building at SkyscraperPage
  4. Simms Building at Structurae
  5. 5.0 5.1 "National Register of Historic Places listings for Bernalillo County, New Mexico". nationalregisterofhistoricplace.com [unofficial site]. American Dreams, Inc. 2007-01-23. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  6. "Location DEA offices - Breaking Bad Locations". 2015-03-13.