Cass Gilbert's Woolworth Building

Typical Office Floor

The lower stories of the Woolworth Building held public spaces like the swimming pool and the Irving National Bank, but the majority of the building's floors were devoted to private offices. This reflected one facet of F.W. Woolworth's vision for the building--that of a speculative real estate investment. Only a couple of floors were needed for the corporate offices of the Woolworth Company; the rest would be leased to other companies and would generate revenue for the company. By 1910, New York City had a surplus of office spaces, with the amount of real estate exceeding the demand for it. Woolworth hoped that his building's fame as the tallest building in the world, along with other features added to make it more attractive to tenants, would generate sufficient demand for its office spaces despite the glut of real estate in New York.

The lower floors of the building were arranged in a U-shape. This increased the number of offices that had windows and thus access to natural light, an important consideration for potential tenants.

One of the building's original tenants was the American Steel Export Company. These images of their offices, taken in 1917, show typical workspaces in the building.

This detail shows the design of the elevator doors for all of the stories above the third floor. Like the building's exterior, the elevator doors were designed in an ornate Gothic style. The style was used for all floors--not just the lobby--and was executed in cast iron. Originally, the iron was gilded; today, the gold gilt is covered with paint, as shown in this modern image of elevator doors on an upper floor.

This page has paths:

Contents of this path:

This page references: