Union Bank Building - Boston, MA
Posted by: 
silverquill
N 42° 21.094 W 071° 03.872
19T E 329961 N 4690875
Built in 1925, this bank is an example of late Rennaissance revival architecture, on the corner of Tremont & Boylston in Boston's Piano Row Historic District. It was designed by Thomas M. James who also designed several nearby buildings.
Waymark Code: WM79TM
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 09/24/2009
Views: 8
From the Midtown Cultural District Historic Building Survey
Architect: Thomas M. James Co.
Builder: George B.H. Macomber
Late Renaissance Revival steel frame "palazzo skyscraper" with principal 3-bay facade on Tremont & 5 bays on LaGrange. Intact rusticated ground level featuring semi-circular arched windows with projecting keystones & original sash, intact center entrance flanked by iron lamps. "Shaft" of building is unadorned, regular in fenestration. Cast stone leafy modillion cornice.
Rectangular building on corner site, important for its relationship to nearby early skyscrapers, esp. the Touraine & Little building. Last building on east side of Tremont to be includd in "piano row" area.
This well-preserved late Renaissance Revival bank bldg. is a good example of Boston institutional architecture and serves as the southern anchor for the suggested "Piano Row" District. With neighboring early skyscrapers such as the Hotel Touraine, Little Building and Masonic Temple, the Union Warren Savings Bank building helps to reinforce the characteristic 9=10 story height of buildings clustered around the Tremont/Boylston intersection.
The firm of Thomas M. James, architects and engineers, specialized in designing banks. The founder and president of the company, Thomas M. James (1875-1942) was born in Cambridge and received his architectural training under Samuel J. Brown. After a few years practicing in the firm of Hill & James he organized his own company in 1909. James also designed the interior of the Shubert Theatre (1910) and the Post Office building at 154-170 Stuart St. in the theatre area (1927).
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