A Closer Look: The Guaranty Building
The Guaranty Building at Church and Pearl streets in Buffalo is an architectural gem.
The panel over the entrance to the historic Guaranty Building. The Guaranty Construction Co. was originally the contractor for Henry Taylor, who commissioned the building but died in 1894 just as plans and funding were in place to build the building. Guaranty took over the project and completed the building. In 1900 the building was renamed the Prudential Building, however many references to Guaranty remain.
A view through one of the iconic circular windows on the 13th floor of the Guaranty Building, facing the Rath County Office Building.
Detail of the terra cotta molding lining an arched window facing St. Paul’s Cathedral on the second floor of the Guaranty Building.
Detail of the terra cotta logo at the top of a column on the historic Guaranty Building, which was completed in 1896, by architect Louis H. Sullivan and Dankmar Adler. The building was declared a national landmark in 1975.
Looking up on the eastern face of the Guaranty Building and its intricate terra cotta cladding.
A view of the intricately adorned lobby.
The ornate stairwell in the lobby of the Guaranty Building.
Detail of the art glass skylights, now lit with LED lights, above the lobby.
Detail of a mosaic intended to invoke a blooming plant, a recurring theme throughout the building.
Detail of an intricate doorknob at the historic Guaranty Building.
An original safe sits in a conference room in the historic Guaranty Building.
Detail of a turtle-back fixture in the lobby of the historic Guaranty Building.
Detail of intricate bronze-plated steel surrounding the elevators on the first floor of the historic Guaranty Building.
Architect Peter Flynn stands next to a scale model in the museum exhibit on the first floor of the historic Guaranty Building, which was completed in 1896, by architect Louis H. Sullivan and Dankmar Adler. It was declared a national landmark in 1975. Flynn led a massive restoration effort in the 1980s.
Detail of a column as it passes through the glass curtain on the first floor of the historic Guaranty Building.
Detail of the terra cotta-adorned columns on the ground floor.
Detail of curves from the Pearl Street foyer and the arched window tops on the first floor.
A chandelier amid the mosaic ceiling in the lobby.
The Pearl Street foyer of the historic Guaranty Building.
A view looking up the stairwell into the lobby of the historic Guaranty Building.
A large metal plate with the Prudential logo in the lobby of the historic Guaranty Building, which was completed in 1896, by architect Louis H. Sullivan and Dankmar Adler. It was declared a national landmark in 1975 and has been the home of law firm Hodgson Russ, which purchased the building in 2002.
The adjacent Rath County Office Building viewed from an arch window inside the historic Guaranty Building.
Detail of mosaic ceiling in the lobby of the historic Guaranty Building.
Detail of a letter slot in an office door.
Detail of the intricate design atop a doorknob.
Detail of intricate bronze-plated steel surrounding the elevators on the first floor.
The eastward view through one of the circular windows on the 13th floor.
A view of Buffalo City Hall through one of the circular windows on the 13th floor of the Guaranty Building.
Detail of the terra cotta logo at the top of each column on the historic Guaranty Building.
An icicle hangs from the mouth of a brass lion head, which frames a weep hole allowing water to run off of the glass curtain wall surrounding the first floor.
The northwest corner of the historic Guaranty Building, which was completed in 1896, by architect Louis H. Sullivan and Dankmar Adler.
Detail of terra cotta panels lining the façade of the historic Guaranty Building.
Derek Gee
Chief Photographer
The 13-floor landmark is an architectural masterwork by Louis Sullivan, an American genius and "father of the skyscraper," his plans reinforced by such brilliant colleagues as his partner, Dankmar Adler, and draftsman George Arthur Elmslie.