My Favorite Buildings: The Granite in Granite Works
That smooth granite is what makes this building so attractive and unusual. There is no other building like it in the city. Granite itself is an unusual material to find covering a building. It is a hard stone that requires a lot of labor to mine and to work into the forms of a building skin and was therefore very expensive. Terra cotta, wood, Iron, and tin are materials that were commonly used as substitutes. The company that made its home in this building eons ago used this facade to advertise their product which just happened to be granite work. Carved into two stone slabs above the door one can read:
Left side: MANUFACTURERS & QUARRY OWNERS DEALERS IN EVERY VARIETY OF - GRANITE WORK - MONUMENTAL AND BUILDING.
Right side: STATUARY AND WORK OF ART. WORKS AND QUARRY AT - QUINCY MASS.- ESTABLISHED 1857
The small but highly detailed stone front is unusual in its form as well. The ornament and technique are more reminiscent of cemetery architecture than of typical street side buildings. It is likely that this company did most of its business making monuments for grave sites. The toughness and permanence of granite makes it perfect for a memorial to the dead meant to last forever. A walk through Forest Lawn reveals a vast majority of the monuments to be made of granite. Completing the composition the north side of the building is distinctive as well with is low mansard roof and polished granite lintels over tall windows set in a more common brick wall.
A thought about the building today: It came very close to being demolished and was rescued at the very last moment in typical Buffalo fashion. Today it stands as good as new. Part of it actually is new as it has been incorporated into a multi story addition at the rear. Little needed to be done to the hard granite front facade in the renovation process. Overall this building and the whole row of Granite Works is a testament to the power of preservation. Lets be thankful that the obstructionists did not get there wish for more shovel ready property here. I have one nit to pick however. What is it with these little shrubs that I see more and more often planted in front of storefront windows in Buffalo? Is there some strange idea that commercial display windows need to be separated from the public by a miniscule shrub garden? Perhaps we don't like to see the building connect with the ground? I may be missing something but I hope this is a passing fad.
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Comment Options
WCPerspective
Two lucky residents at Granite Works share the roof of the building- it contains a patio overlooking Main Street.
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Eisen
What businesses occupy this building? Looks fairly bare, you should thank the shrubs for livening up the place.
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NSphere
I like the shrubs... as long as they remain well cared for. I think that the first floor is still vacant (though I haven't walked past in a little while and could be wrong) but when I toured the project and saw the model unit the residential units were largely filled. The place is gorgeous on the inside as well as out.
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rickyrick
If only we can do something about that ugly one story medical building across the street and promote this area for more Retail and other businesses to liven up the street a bit. It looks empty (no cars and only two pedestrians)
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allthingsbuffalo
i heart granite works. best residential project in buffalo. ever.
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knowledgedableone
Thank the shrubs? Shame on the City for requiring the "suburbanesque" landscape treatment out front of these buildings. It is clearly out of character historically speaking and detracts from the building's urban face. You would not see this type of planting in NYC. If you were interested in planting something complimentary, evergreens such as boxwood or hollies would provide year round interest. The yellow potentilla looks cheap.
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Eisen
Historically incorrect suburban shrubbery… Really? Seriously?
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NBJOHN
Shrubs/trees are great when well kept - compare this to the trees that have not been taken care of on Hertel - They look like ass.
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Chief_Psychic
"Lets be thankful that the obstructionists did not get there wish for more shovel ready property here"
So to developers the Preservationists are obstructionists, but to Preservationists the developers or demolishers are obstructionists? Which one is it? :-)
Just kidding... I love this building and I am so glad to see the rest of the neighborhood improving. Well, it is improving on that side of Main Street, as the projects off Best Street are a guarantee that development will only progress so far up that block.
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Chief_Psychic
WCP - when was your picture taken? It looks like a bright and sunny day; yet there are no cars driving on Main Street.
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WCPerspective
The picture was taken about one year ago...it was mid-week. I toured the building just before tenants started moving in prior to last year's Downtown Housing Tour.
Another pic, at least there's another parked car in this one. I wish I could say I purposely waited for no cars to enter the frame, but that wasn't the case.
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pgf1948
Steel,
I have absolutely LOVED this building my whole life. The materials; the scale; the wonder of it! The facade so reminds me (now) of 19th-century city-directory ads. My brother and I used to read the inscriptions as boys visiting my grandparents. We always used to ask each other what Quincy Mass has to do with it. Thank you for such a special highlight on BRO, at least for me.
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VictrolaMan
Trying to find fault with plants is a bit stupid. Hooray for ANY kind of greenery in cities.
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42nate
The building was at risk only because City Hall turned away a steady stream of would-be buyers, ordinary people who adored it as much as you do, Steel. About 12 years ago they issued an RFP for it, got at least one proposal with financial backing all lined up, and rejected all of the proposals. Then they named designated developers, you know, "professionals" instead of ordinary people, who never followed through. Then, coinidentally, as soon as a certain city hall commissioner left office and joined Bernie Obletz' staff, suddenly Bernie had the property. Thanks to City Hall, that building suffered at least a decade of unnecessary deterioration and vacancy.
People often misinterpret the inscriptions. The monument company started out in Quincy in 1857. It did not build this building until it moved its headquarters here in the 1880s.
And you're right about foundation plantings up against vintage commercial buildings. If little juniper and mulch ensembles are so wonderful, how come they make gas stations look so pathetic? Hey, the Guaranty building could use some of that hooray-ful "greenery!"
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VictrolaMan
If the owners like plants more than concrete, then the 'Guaranty' (Prudential) Building could use plants, yes. There's no reason "urban" should always mean "paved dead space" . This particular building no longer has "commercial display windows", as it's now residential, and the planted areas help to keep passers-by away from the glass.
"Connect with the ground" would involve actual ground, no? Not just concrete?
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STEEL
I think the plants in front of this building and the others in this row look puny and silly. It looks small town. The first floor windows in these buildings are not residential. They are commercial. The plants detract from the street scape in my opinion. They don't enhance the functionality of the windows, they don't look attractive, they don't create a sense of space. Just because it is green does not make it good. They should have invested in some decent sized street trees instead. Use living material to create and enhance space instead of just plopping around the edges of the building. My friends in the architecture world have a very descriptive but vulgar term for this kind of planting which I wish I could use here.
Great project other wise and this small negative is easily corrected.
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VictrolaMan
100 years ago , those windows were "commercial'. Today, they are residential..
And how much "commerce" is in evidence in that photo of Main St? Zero. Your friends in the "architecture world" should join the real world, because they are now in their own little world where they design for each other's approval while crapping on the rest of us.
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Martin
lol...a discussion about shrubs? Thanks for my morning giggle
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eliz
It is true that often not much thought goes into the landscaping for otherwise great building and restoration projects. The landscaping companies around here are pretty behind the times. Plantings are an imortant component. Though I don't think evergreens are necessarily the solution. I might just have a nice tough creeping groundcover with an interesting speciman tree on the side. You'd hate to block the details of that building.
Martin, you of people dissing a gardening discussion! You shock me!
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STEEL
Victrola man,
The first floor windows are commercial. No one lives or will live on the first floor.
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Weezer
About ten years ago, a business owner in this area told me that installation of these planting strips transfered the reponsibility of sidewalk maintenance/snow plowing from the property owner to the city. Can anyone verify whether this is true? If so, it would explain why many of the newer adaptive reuse projects around downtown include these planting strips. Either way, I kind of like them if they're maintained because they tend to "soften" the pedestrian experience.
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WCPerspective
My two cents: I like the strip of landscaping as long as it is maintained, it breaks up the sidewalk. But if I were a retailer- I'd want folks to get right up to my window to gaze. The landscaping here may have the unintended result of conveying "look (from a distance) but do not touch." Any retailers want to chime in?
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nick
I would have guessed that the building was constructed to the property line so that these planting strips are actually on city property unless the city changed the property boundaries. In any case its not a huge deal, but it does change the context of the property from its historical look. I'm sure the attacks will come for the comment but this buliding I believe received the HP Investment Tax Credit so the historic context does matter.
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bradon
I recall the state of this section of Main Street only 10 - 15 years ago. I used to make frequent stops at Buffalo Medical to pick-up supplies for my wife, before she passed away. The neighborhood was dark and dreary, and there were many homeless, beggars, junkies, and others who lined the doorways. They didn't harass or even bother me, they were just there. Over the years the neighborhood has been cleaned up. The buildings repaired and the street feels safer and more welcoming. I love what they have done with the Granite Works, and I hope that this continues, I only wish it never got as bad as it did in the early 90s.
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Biniszkiewicz
Weezer: There is no difference in responsibility for snow removal and maintenance. It's the city's property, but the building owner must maintain it whether it's concrete or not.
The plants might look small town, but I like them. I like them at gas stations, too, as opposed to concrete and pavement. I see these first floor units more successful as small offices than as retail, but either way I doubt anyone would be pressing their noses to the windows. Big sidewalks work well to manage large crowds of pedestrians. Lacking big volumes of pedestrians, I like more green myself.
Maybe the city blew an opportunity to get this done earlier as 42nate informs us, but Obletz did an outstanding project. It's better than anything I imagained would come of the property. Hope the first floor fills with good tenants and that the apartments stay filled.
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benfranklin
In one of the original proposal drawings a large tree on the right side of the project blocked some of the building. For those who 'loved' the original building, you'll remember all the windows on the right side, I assume they had something today with onsite production, moving granite in and out of the building.
When I first saw the drawing I thought, great, they're going to keep those windows. Well, the windows are gone, and the tree that blocked the view is in place. I've looked online for that picture, and can't find it. It was also part of the banner that hung on the site during construction.
Irregardless, the project has brought life back to the corner, and I'd think we'd all agree that's a good thing.
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parkman
since i moved into the wv area two years ago it is very rare the Binks has his sidewalks free of snow. talk about it, does nothing.
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Matthewjohnp
I shop here all the time, I like the savings I enjoy with every non-purchase
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eliz
Just for the sheer heck of it, I set the landscaping issue before a gardening blog I post to: http://www.gardenrant.com/my_weblog/2007/08/what-would-you-.html
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BROKEEPSBLOCKINGME
Steel, get a life
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