CONTEMPORARY NY
SOH023-02.jpg (73372 bytes) New York Architecture Images-Soho

Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity

architect

Augustus Shepard

location

226 West Broadway 

date

1912-18

style

 

construction

White terra-cotta cladding.

type

Office Building converted to apartments.

 

 

images

 

 
 
   

 

"A simple way to recognize glazed terra cotta is to look for a fine network of lines or cracks on the surface of the block. These crackle lines are caused by the differential between the cooling rates of the clay body and the glaze after firing. Excessive crackle in the glaze is known as crazing." (Terra Cotta: Don't Take It For Granite, by Susan Tunic, p. 5.)

"Originally built as the Fire Department's High Pressure Services headquarters, the iconography on this slender building's glazed terra-cotta facade includes representations of fire hydrants, hoses, valves, couplings, and other tools of the firefighter's trade. It is crowned in its central pediment by a fine rendering of the official seal of the City of New York." (One Thousand New York Buildings, Brockmann and Harris, p. 113.)

contact

nyc-architecture.com

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