Description
The interior of 55 Wall Street was designed in a classical Roman style on a grand scale, to be the headquarters of the National City Bank, one of the country's oldest and most important financial institutions.
... Read MoreIn 1904, the bank hired the preeminent firm of McKim, Mead & White to remodel and create an addition for a prominent earlier building by Isaiah Rogers. The original structure had been constructed in 1836-42 in a dignified Greek Revival style as the Merchants' Exchange, and later housed the Stock Exchange and then the U.S. Custom House. When this later institution outgrew these quarters, the building was purchased by National City Bank. The bank president, James Stillman, saw the reuse and remodeling of this renowned edifice for the bank's headquarters as a statement of his company's prestige. Originally only four stories high, the granite building was fronted by twelve enormous columns. McKim, Mead & White added four more stories and completely redesigned the interior, creating an immense, cruciform-plan banking hall with offices hidden in each of the four corners. The construction, which lasted from 1908 to 1910 resulted in an imposing room which extends under a sixty-foot-high central dome, with monumental Corinthian columns which support an elegant entablature encircling the space. The vast scale of the intersecting barrel vaults and tall, arched window openings is juxtaposed by elegant design details such as the luxurious gray marble on the floors and walls, the coffered ceiling, and the delicate mezzanine railings, all of which contribute to the grandeur and dignity of the room. The exterior of this building was designated a New York City Landmark in 1965.
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