St. Germain Lofts - Houston, TX
Posted by: 
WalksfarTX
N 29° 45.541 W 095° 21.787
15R E 271500 N 3294423
In 1983 the historic 1913 Kress building was renovated into loft apartments. During renovation the large-scale cornice with its corbels and the roof parapet that held the Kress logo were removed.
Waymark Code: WMW9DH
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 07/29/2017
Views: 1
DIME STORE DECO the Houston, Texas store was an eight-story, terra cotta clad, Beaux-Arts skyscraper. The Kress building, as it was called, is located at the corner of Main Street and Fannin Street.
Both elevations of the building are divided similarly to tall buildings designed by
Louis Sullivan. Each elevation has a
distinctive base, shaft and capital. Vertically,
both elevations are divided into three bays.
This is achieved by four pilasters that begin
above the second floor and extend to the
seventh floor where each pilaster is topped by
a decorative cartouche, which itself is part of a
large frieze that runs the entire length of both
elevations.
Above the frieze is the eighth
floor, which has decorative terra cotta panels
that are located just above the cartouches.
The relationship of the panels and cartouches
accents the verticality of the building by providing a visual line from the start of the
pilasters on the third floor up through the eighth floor and projecting cornice to a point of
termination within the roof parapets design.