P R O P O S E D   H I S T O R I C   D I S T R I C T

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GARDEN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY EXTENSION
105 East 17th Street
Architects: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
1959-63

The proposed historic district's one important office building complex is that of the Guardian Life Insurance Company, at 50 Union Square East, with an extension at 105 East 17th Street. The company's 20-story skyscraper at the northeast corner of Union Square with facades facing Park Avenue South and East 17th Street, is a designated individual landmark. However, the building, best known for its enormous mansard roof crowned by an electric sign, has an elegant three-story modern extension that is not part of its landmark designation. The addition stretches from East 17th Street through the block to East 18th Street. The large plate-glass windows, aluminum spandrel panels set flush with the glass, and the projecting vertical mullions create a sophisticated, beautifully proportioned geometry that is representative of the finest International style design. The building has a lobby and offices on the first story, offices on the third story, and a rooftop terrace. In order to connect the addition to the original headquarters structure on the corner of Park Avenue South, the first two floors of the modern structure match the height of the headquarters' entrance hall; the third story of the addition lines up with the second story of the older building.