{"nrhp_refnum":"09001216","name":"Pennsylvania State Office Building","other_names":["Philadelphia State Office Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1400 Spring Garden St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.96408334300003,"lon":-75.16213848199999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2010-01-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Landscape Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An 18-story office high rise at the southwest corner of N. Broad and Spring Garden Streets in Philadelphia, built in 1957-1958 as a state government office building. Its rectangular box is clad in white marble and raised on stainless steel stilts, with a stainless steel penthouse and a mechanical tower above, and the site includes plazas, a garage, a fountain and a perimeter wall.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is an outstanding local example of the Modern style and a shining example of the modern movement in Philadelphia. Its stripped-down form, public plazas and technological features are cited as embodying those ideals. The design is credited to the joint work of three Philadelphia architectural firms.","narrative":"Built in 1957-1958 at the southwest corner of Broad and Spring Garden Streets in Philadelphia, the 18-story office tower is sheathed in white marble and raised on stainless steel stilts above a granite-paved ground-floor plaza. Its box form, flat roof, stainless steel penthouse and open public plazas reflect the Modern style. Three Philadelphia architectural firms, Carroll, Grisdale & Van Alen; Harbeson, Hough, Livingston and Larson; and Nolen & Swinburne, worked on the design, with landscape architect Ian McHarg contributing to the grounds. The site had been home to a parking lot and small service station before construction. The state selected it in 1954 for its size and price, and it was built to house state departments. The property is regarded as an outstanding local example of Modern design in the city, and its surviving form and materials remain largely intact.","period_of_significance":"1958","architect_builder":"Carroll, Grisdale & Van Alen, architects; Harbeson, Hough, Livingston and Larson, architect; Nolen & Swinburne, architect; Ian McHarg, landscape architect","architectural_style":"Modern Movement","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"The state has used the building as a state government office building since its completion.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:10:27.48889-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/09001216.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09001216/f96b958d80-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09001216/f96b958d80-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:State_Bldg_Spring_Garden_Philly.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:State_Bldg_Spring_Garden_Philly.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997332","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_State_Office_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7164195"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/pennsylvania-state-office-building-09001216/"}