{"nrhp_refnum":"83004247","name":"1616 Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1616 Walnut St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.949739839000074,"lon":-75.16819210399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-10-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The 1616 Building is an office building at 1616-26 Walnut Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, constructed in 1929 and 1930 from plans by Tilden, Register and Pepper, with Wark & Co. as contractors. It has a long, narrow tower of offices rising above a six-story base that covers the entire ground area.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the tower-on-base solution was the most creative answer of its time to providing light and air in tall office buildings, and that the building is one of the best surviving 1920s skyscraper interiors in the city, with a unified aesthetic scheme. It also places the building among the important works of the architectural firm in Philadelphia, alongside the 1608-14 Walnut Street tower, the Mahoney Wing and the 30th Street Post Office.","narrative":"Built in 1929 and 1930 on Walnut Street in Philadelphia, the office building at 1616-26 Walnut rises as a long, narrow slab of offices above a six-story base covering the entire ground area. The architects, Tilden, Register and Pepper, designed it beside their earlier tower at 1608-14 Walnut, and the arrangement was meant to limit the loss of light and air that closely spaced skyscrapers caused. The base is faced in polished reddish brown granite with bronze trim, while the tower uses tan and brown brick with dark glass vertical strips. The lobby is noted for its terrazzo floor, golden stone veneers and aluminum fluted accents, and the 22nd-floor conference rooms feature carefully matched woods. The building is valued for its solution to the problem of light and air in tall offices and for its largely unaltered 1920s interior, which the nomination regards as one of the best surviving in the city.","period_of_significance":"1929-30","architect_builder":"Tilden, Register & Pepper (architects); Wark & Co. (contractors)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Interior has survived with relatively few alterations; the document describes its condition as excellent and original site.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:32.317073-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/83004247.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83004247/b59b3f71ba-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83004247/b59b3f71ba-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1616_Walnut.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1616_Walnut.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"87002203","name":"Center City West Commercial Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/center-city-west-commercial-historic-district-87002203/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997056","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1616_Walnut_Street_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4551215"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/1616-building-83004247/"}