This 29 Story Skyscraper was the Tallest in Memphis for 30 years
Sterick Building, Memphis Tennessee
The Sterick Building, for over thirty years Memphis' tallest building, has long punctuated the downtown skyline with its soaring Gothic tower. In 1928 construction began on the 29-story skyscraper. Upon its completion in 1929, it became the tallest structure in West Tennessee and the second-largest office building in the South. Its architectural significance lies in its massive scale, strong vertical emphasis, and dominating presence on the Memphis skyline. It represents a prime example of the Commercial Gothic style. For its entire history, the Sterick Building has provided headquarters for many of the city's most prominent business, professional, and governmental leaders.
Referred to in 1929 as one of the "Seven Wonders of Memphis," the Sterick Building was a joint venture of two Texans, Ross E.K. Sterling of Houston, and his son-in-law, architect Wyatt C. Hedrick of Fort Worth. Sterling was a former Governor of Texas, owner-publisher of the Houston-Post Dispatch, and Chairman of the Board of Humble Oil and Refining Company. It was his financial support that made possible the realization of Hedrick's dream for the new $2,500,000 skyscraper. The name "Sterick" was derived from a combination of the two names, Sterling and Hedrick. Among Hedrick's other projects were the Hospital for the Insane at Bolivar, Tennessee, and the Merchants Bank and Trust Company in Jackson, Mississippi.
Commanding the northeast corner of Third Street and Madison Avenue, the Sterick Building occupies the former site of the elegant Napoleon Hill home. This strategic location is important as the eastern anchor of the Madison Avenue Financial District. The building acts as a kind of urban lighthouse guiding the approach to the downtown area from East Memphis along Madison and along Third (Highway 51) from the Mississippi Delta to the south. Stylistically its design was no doubt influenced by the drawings of such visionaries as Hugh Ferriss, who perceived the skyscraper of the 1920s as a rival of nature in terms of scale and mass. The building presents a massive facade with its cliff-like setbacks reminiscent of a craggy mountain peak. With its massive piers and thin continuous window mullions the building's vertical emphasis becomes dominant. At the same time, however, the facades retain a distinct human scale through the delicate detailing and carved stone ornamentation.
Sterick Building tenants through the years have included many prominent local doctors, dentists, and lawyers, as well as virtually all Departments of the Federal Government including the U.S. District Court. Among its other tenants have been the Hunter Fan and Motor Company, Western Union Telegraph Company, HumKo Company, and LaSalle Extension University.
Building Description
The Sterick Building, which stands at the northeast corner of Third and Madison Avenue in downtown Memphis, was built as a joint venture by prominent Texas Governor, oilman, and publisher R.E. Sterling and his son-in-law, architect Wyatt C. Hedrick. Completed in 1929, the twenty-nine story skyscraper became the tallest structure in West Tennessee at a height of 347'6" and was the second-largest office building in the South with over 200,000 square feet total areas It was built for $2,500,000. It is architecturally significant because of its sensitive design combining great mass with human scale and elegant ornamentation and also because of its forceful domination of the strategic corner site.
Even though the Sterick Building has been surpassed in height in recent years by more modern buildings, it still dramatically marks the Third and Madison intersection with its enormous massing accomplished by a series of tiered setbacks typical of the Commercial Gothic style. These setbacks which occur at the roof levels of the 13th, 18th, and 22nd stories, create a powerful image reminiscent of a craggy mountain peak. Originally such setbacks were mandated by zoning laws designed to allow adequate air and sunshine to penetrate to the sidewalk below.
The building, which turns its broad side to Third Street, is U-shaped in plan up to the 13th-floor level where it then becomes a slender two-tiered tower. This U-shaped plan, opening to the east, affords light and fresh air to interior office spaces. The long axis of the tower runs north and south parallel to Third Street thus enabling the views to the Mississippi River and to east Memphis to be maximized. This orientation also gives the building a greater sense of mass when seen on the skyline from the river on the west or from the principal suburban areas to the east.
This image of massive volume and bulk begins with the 13-story base, measuring approximately 148' by 148'. Rising out of this base is the 16-story tower which steps back ½ bay at the 18th floor and 1 bay at the 22nd floor. At the top floor the final cornice was originally crowned with Gothic finials which have since been removed. The tower is topped by a mansard roof of green terra cotta tile, now painted white and adorned with a tenant's red logo. At the top of the mansard roof is an ornamental copper crest, also painted white.
A strong sense of structural hierarchy is expressed in the facades where the columns continue from the sidewalk to the various setback parapets where they are topped by finials. Between the columns are more delicate vertical mullions which add a human scale to the building while at the same time dividing the structural bays, and thereby emphasizing the verticality of the facade. These strong vertical elements, which interrupt the horizontal spandrel panels, thus affording a dominant vertical aspect to the massive proportions of the facades.
The Third and Madison ground-level base course of polished Minnesota granite gives way to Indiana limestone extending to the third floor. The remaining 26 stories are sheathed in an artificial stone manufactured locally. The original color of the Sterick Building was the light grey of this stone. At a later date the entire facade was coated with a waterproofing material, followed by a coat of white paint. It is this dark grey water-proofing that is now visible in places beneath the peeling white paint. The north and east facades, except for one bay each at the northwest and southeast corners, are clad in buff-colored brick masonry with projected headers. At the top of the first floor is the first of many cornices expressing the ground floor commercial rental space. Between the columns are large rounded flat-arched plate glass windows.
The main entrance is on Third Street where a two-story high polished granite portal, set forward for emphasis, affords entrance to the lobby. Made of the same granite as the base course, it consists of an arched opening topped by an ornamented stone lunette above aluminum swinging doors and a flat soffit, added in a remodeling. On the sides of the doors are small decorative panels that in pattern resemble the much larger spandrels of the upper stories. On either side of the main entrance at the top of the arched portal are carved granite art deco pinnacles.
Above the second story is a second cornice where the columns terminate in an ornamental course. The ornamentation of this cornice consists of fleurs-de-lis and heraldic devices. Between the floors are ornamented stone spandrel panels which are interrupted by the continuous vertical mullions and columns.
The Madison Avenue facade features a smaller version of the granite portal on Third Street and originally had leaded glass in-fill in the lunette. Immediately east of this entrance is a pedimented Corinthian Renaissance revival entrance which was added at a later date. This portal opens into commercial space currently leased by the Commerce Union Bank. The east and north sides of the building are bounded by alleys with a fifth-floor level walkway over the north alley connecting the Sterick Building with an adjacent parking garage.
The main lobby is designed on a cruciform plan with the primary entrance on Third Street, a connection to the Madison entrance by a sloping arcade and a small entrance on the north from the alley. The lobby detailing was originally of Renaissance style with blended pink Italian and Black Belgian marble walls and floors, vaulted corridor ceilings, and intricate chandeliers.
A remodeling of the lobby and entrances introduced the existing coral red, black with red, and solid black marble. In addition, a suspended ceiling was added and the original chandeliers were removed. The entrance lobby floor features a geometric maze pattern in black and pink marble and pink granite. Other details of note in the lobby include a solid brass mailbox and intricate stair rails to the second floor, decorated with cast iron cupids. Off the lobby are two banks of four Otis Automatic Signal Control with the original bronze doors intact. These were the first signal control elevators in Memphis and were the fastest elevators in the city with a speed of 900 feet/minute. Four of these elevators rise only to the 13th floor, the other four continuing to the 29th floor.
There are two basement floors that house maintenance and mechanical equipment including three original Kewanee Portable boilers and the original air compressor. There is also a small parking garage. Other original mechanical equipment included a water well, a complete filtering plant, an ice-making and refrigerating plant, a high-pressure fire pump, an iced water delivery system for each floor, and an automatic aerator for purifying water.
The typical office floor of the first 13 stories is U-shaped with a central core containing elevators, toilet rooms, and other service facilities. Special features of the building included a barber shop, a ladies' lounge complete with showers, and a law library for Sterick tenants. Detailing on the floors above ground level included wainscotting of pink marble with red granite trim, terrazzo floors, elegant art deco water fountains, plaster lath ceilings, and brass hardware with Gothic ornamentation. The original 879 offices were all finished in quarter-sawed white oak with office partitions of plaster and obscure glass, ceiling fans and Venetian blinds. Originally each typical office occupies one structural bay so that the structural bays of the facade expressed the office spaces within. The structure of the Sterick Building is steel, encased in concrete for fireproofing, with massive concrete footings that are visible in the basement. Radiators heat all but the 14th floor which has electric heat.
(1978)
(1978)
(1978)
(1978)
