Wainwright Building

Designated as a National Historic Landmark, the Wainwright Building was designed by the famed architects Adler and Sullivan in 1891, and is considered to be the "father of the contemporary skyscraper". The Wainwright building is credited for being the first successful utilization of steel frame construction in an era of load-bearing masonry walls, which allowed for spacious interiors for the office occupants. The first two floors are faced in brown sandstone, and the next seven stories rise in continuous brick piers. Terra cotta panels of ornate foliage relief's decorate the each floor. The tenth story is a frieze of intertwined leaf scrolls framing circular windows, and is capped with Sullivan's characteristic overhanging roof slab. The building became a St. Louis City Landmark in 1972.