Masonic Temple is considered Virginia’s largest and finest example of Richardsonian Romanesque construction, according to landmark documents. Originally, the building housed a department store on the ground floor, ballrooms on the second and third floors, and Masonic Lodge meeting rooms on the fourth and fifth floors. Now known as the events venue Renaissance, the landmark […]
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American Heritage Apartments is proof positive that you should always look up. At street level, my only interest was visiting the 7/11. From the State Capitol grounds, I found this view of the building, over the roof of the U.S. Court of Appeals on Bank Street. Marvelous cornice, terra cotta, balconies – not to mention
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The Virginia State Capitol core – the building minus the wings that were added in 1906 – was designed by Thomas Jefferson and Charles-Louis Clerisseau in the image of a Roman Temple, Maison Caree. The neo-Classical temple form is said to have set a design precedent for public buildings in the United States. In keeping
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Broad Street Station, aka Union Station of Richmond, was on the verge of destruction in 1976 after Amtrak abandoned the transport hub. The State of Virginia planned to demolish the building and erect an office park on the site. Preservationists and the Science Museum of Virginia – which had been looking for a home for
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Continental Building seems best known for its next-door neighbors: the crinkled-aluminum Markel Building to the west and the Willow Lawn shopping center to the east. Yet, it’s a surprising (though modest) piece of architecture. The entire three-story building is raised on stilts a la Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye – providing shaded parking. The high arched
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Inspired by a foil-wrapped baked potato the architect consumed at an American Institute of Architects dinner. Each floor is clad in a 555-foot sledge-hammered sheet of aluminum. Name: Enterprise Center, aka Markel Building Location: 5310 Markel Road Year Completed: 1965 Architect: Haig Jamgochian Style: modern Architecture Richmond: Markel Building Google Map All images copyright ©
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Navy Hill is the name given to a redevelopment scheme for the area east of the Greater Richmond Convention Center, which would encompass at least two dormant Richmond landmarks: Richmond Coliseum and Richmond Light Infantry Blues Armory. Blues Armory, one-time home of the Richmond Light Infantry Blues, was converted to a shopping mall and food
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West Hospital, a 17-story Art Deco landmark-worthy part of VCU Medical Center, is among Richmond’s tallest buildings. The cross-shaped brick tower is also among Richmond’s endangered buildings – Virginia Commonwealth University has tried to have it demolished. Historic preservationists rescued the structure in 2004, but who knows what the future will bring. (Style Weekly “Save
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Richmond’s new City Hall towers over Old City Hall, cater-corner across East Broad and North 10th Streets. The 19-story postmodern high-rise was briefly the city’s tallest building. The original marble and granite facade deteriorated beyond repair. It was replaced in 2003 with an aluminum and granite facade, with windows deeply recessed behind a perimeter of
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Model Tobacco Building, aka Model Tobacco Apartments, is a sleek red brick Art Deco factory built by the United States Tobacco Company in 1940. The long sides, parallel to Richmond Highway (formerly Jefferson Davis Highway) feature six tiers of windows set in grey brick ribbons. At each end, “MODEL TOBACCO” is spelled out in nine-foot-tall
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