Evening star., 1899-03-25
THE NEW BUILDING.

THE NEW BUILDING.
Handsome Future Home Of The Even
ing Star.
The new structure is to be handsome
specimen of the modern business building
While the exterior walls are to be built of
white marble and this material is to be
enriched with carvings and the graceful
lines we'll as the decacy of the ma
terial will make the building an object OF
beauty and of artistic merit, yet it will in
every way be adapted for the everyday
uses of this work-a-day world.
AS a combination of the useful and the
beautiful the new Star building will prove to
be perpetual object lesson. For behind
this outer dress of white marble will lie
concealed q frame work of steel. The great
beams and girders stretching across from
line to line will bind the whole into one
compact and durab structure. AMI with
the floor arches and partitions of tcllN
Gotta and the roof covered with concrete.
there will be absolutely nothing that Will
be destructible except the wooden covering
of the floors in the rooms and the WOOD
used to trim the window openings and the
DOORS
The ground which will be occupied in
cludeS all the space now covered by TIE
front portion of the present Star building,
the building Immediately in The rear on
11th street and the two adjoining Struc-
tures to the west on PENNSYLVANIA avenue
SO that the west line will adjoin that of the
Gait building and the north line will eX-
tend to the press building on the north.
The exact frontage on the avenue Will
be 51.667 and 11th street 126?1. The
west line goes back at slight angle, and
near the rear the lot widens out somewhat,
forming an l., so that the rear line is some
three feet longer than the front line, ana
to- t,.a 1nrth D1h of d.
ing will be to that extent wider than the
front.
An Immense Structure.
That section Of The Star building fronting
81 feet on nth street and extending to the
establishment of Messrs Judd G. Detweiler
and containing the press room will remain
as it Low is. In this building are now To-
Gated The Star presses, the composing
room and the editorial and news depart
mentS.
The nine stories of the new building will
rise to the height of l:9 feet, and the pro-
portions are such that it will not have the
appearance OF a chimney stack, as IS apt
TO he the case with modern business build
inEs. where the evident effort is to make up
for lack of ground space by climbing into
the clouds. As viii be seen, the elevation
has been determined with due regard to
the proportions of the lot. and 50 at the
outset the elements of harmonious pfopof-
tiOnS have been secured.
1t is somewhat difficult for the non-pro-
fessiCnal to grasp clear idea of the mean
ing of figures, especially when applied to
heights. SO, perhaps an attempt might pe
made to translate such terms INTO forms
more Ineligible. For instance. some Dasis
of comparison can be cbta!ned when II Is
stated that the four stories OF the dalt
building will inst reach to the top OF the
fourth floor of tro structure. while the
present Star building would come only 10
the top of the thirf story Of its successor.
acio # 40 lJ1i1Iinp DrpDaret DIV
William J. Marsh and Walter G.. Peter. as
scciate architects. is of the French RenaiS-
sance stvle of architecture. In some of the
forms of this school the tendency is to What
might be called accommodation. but IN
this instance such details have been Kept IN
proper suhordnatiOn and are only employ
! ed where they will not only enrich but Will
free the masses of the walls from the
monotonous effect of unrelieved spaces.
With an earnest desire to carry the archl-
tects' beautiful design into the most per
feet realization, careful study mas peen
made into the product of the various mar
BILE GtarrieS of the country. resulting in the
selection of the Rutland quarry OF the Yer
mont Ma rble Co. Expert opinion from
every available source was solicited as to
the methods best to be pursued in order to
secure the most perfect matching possible
of the great quantity of marble required,
and the unanimous opinion expressed was
that the marble should be cut before leav-
ing the quarry in order that all possible de-
fects should be developed before the stone
cached Washington, when such a discovery
would involve much delay or IN the use to
a greater less extent of inferior blocks.
This is because the nature Of marble makes
it nece ssary to actually expose the surface
to be used in the wall before 1t can be
known what that surface will look like.
The carving will be done after the stone
Is in the building. that being generally rec
ognized as the most approved method of
obtaining the best possible results.
Character of the Fronts.
The treatment of the two fronts is exactly
alike, and, while all the marble used is
dressed and presents a smooth surface yet
the effect of solidity obtIined by the rough
faced stone is secured by skillful treat
ment of the spaces and by the preservation
intact of the surface of the piers. At the
main corner of the building as well as at
the two ends. the piers are uuhroken and
are not pierced by window openings, with
the exception of the corner where narrow
openings are found in the seventh and
ninth floors.
In addition to the broad surface Of ma
scnry presented in the piers, the apparent
effect of stability is further enhanced by
the method of setting the marble, which, to
technical term. is in quoins the
blocks projecting beyond the main surface
of the wall.
This same construction is followed in all
of the piers of the building, and while this
is architectural device to give the APP
pearance of solidity, yet in steel cOnstruc-
ton, as is well known, the outer walls
serve merely as a protection from the
weather, and add nothing to the strength
of the building, the latter, of course, de-
pending upon the beams of steel which are
concealed within the walls. Still if the
walls were so designed and constructed as
not to contribute to the effect of strength
the result would be unsatisfactory and de-
fective from an architectural standpoint.
AS 1t is, however, the masonry filling in the
openings of the framework of steel will be
of very substantial character, as the
marble facing will be backed with brick
The effective treatment of such a large
eXpanse as found in the walls of a building
of this extent Is problem requiring skill
and study as well artistic feeling and
such conception Of a design makes all the