HSBC Bank Building

Identification

Map

Structure in general

Usage

Facts

• The facade consists of dark-tinted glass with matt black anodized aluminium spandrels and thin mullions, giving the building a distinguished appearance that was consequently widely copied.
• Marine Midland Bank Building is notable for its slightly trapezoidal plan form, tapering to the side facing Broadway and reducing from four to three structural bays, as well as the first use of a flush, homogenous curtain wall.
• On the plaza stands Isamu Noguchi's Cube (1967), a holed red-orange cube standing on its corner. Bunschaft had first proposed a monolith-like sculpture, but it was estimated to be too expensive.
• The building was considerably drawn back from the Broadway street line and a plaza of white travertine was created on the vacated part of the plot.
• This 52 story, 1.2 million square foot world-class office tower is strategically located in the heart of Lower Manhattan's Financial District, just steps from the New York Stock Exchange.
• The Building's classic center core construction featuring virtually column free floors, high ceilings and wraparound windows, provides spectacular unspoiled river-to-river views. A typical floor measures approximately 24,000 rentable square feet.
• The Marine Midland Bank Building was completed in 1967 as another influential bank headquarters next to the One Chase Manhattan Plaza, by the same architect (Gordon Bunshaft of SOM as chief designer).