Russ Building

Russ Building
Russ Building, 235 Montgomery St, San Francisco, CA 94104
Russ Building is located in San Francisco
Russ Building
Russ Building
Location within San Francisco
Russ Building is located in California
Russ Building
Russ Building
Russ Building (California)
Russ Building is located in the United States
Russ Building
Russ Building
Russ Building (the United States)
Alternative namesThe Skyscraper
Record height
Preceded byPacific Telephone Building
Surpassed byHartford Building
General information
StatusCompleted
TypeCommercial offices
Location235 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, California
Coordinates37°47′28″N 122°24′10″W / 37.7912°N 122.4028°W / 37.7912; -122.4028
Completed1927
OwnerThe Swig Company
ManagementShorenstein Properties
Height
Antenna spire132.6 m (435 ft)
Roof127.4 m (418 ft)
Technical details
Floor count32[1]
Floor area511,329 sq ft (47,504.0 m2)[2]
Lifts/elevators15
Design and construction
Architect(s)George W. Kelham[1]
Structural engineerH.J. Brunnier Associates
Main contractorDinwiddie Construction
References
[3][4][5]

The Russ Building is a Neo-Gothic office tower located in the Financial District of San Francisco, California. It was designed by architect George W. Kelham, who was responsible for many of San Francisco's other prominent high-rise buildings in the 1920s.[6][7] The 133-metre (436 ft) building was completed in 1927 and had 32 floors as well as the city's first indoor parking garage. It was the tallest building in San Francisco from 1927 to 1964 and one of the most prominent, along with its 133-metre (436 ft) "twin", the PacBell Building to the south.[3]

Upon completion, the building was iconic enough that Architect and Engineer wrote, “In nearly every large city there is one building that because of its size, beauty of architectural design and character of its use and occupancy, has come to typify the city itself ... Today the Russ Building takes this place in San Francisco. By its size and location and by the character of its tenants the building becomes indeed—'The Center of Western Progress'.”[8]

However, Manhattanization from 1960 to 1990 has shrouded the tower in a shell of skyscrapers, removing the tower's prominence.

The San Francisco Chronicle's architecture critic John King described the Russ Building as "the embodiment of Jazz Age romance, a full block of ornate Gothic-flavored masonry that ascends in jagged stages from Montgomery Street with a leap and then a scramble to a central crown".[1] The tower is a California Historical Landmark.[3]

Until the emergence of Sand Hill Road in the 1980s, many of the largest venture capital firms held offices in the Russ Building.[citation needed]

  1. ^ a b c King, John (2015). Cityscapes 2: Reading the Architecture of San Francisco. Heyday. ISBN 9781597143141.
  2. ^ "Russ Building". Skyscraper Center. CTBUH. Retrieved 2017-08-03.
  3. ^ a b c "Emporis building ID 118778". Emporis. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ "Russ Building". SkyscraperPage.
  5. ^ Russ Building at Structurae
  6. ^ "George W. Kelham | Companies". Emporis. Archived from the original on September 27, 2021. Retrieved 2022-05-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ "Russ Building (San Francisco, 1927)".
  8. ^ Corbett, Michael R (1979). Splendid survivors: San Francisco's downtown architectural heritage. San Francisco: California Living Books. ISBN 978-0-89395-031-6.