Kress Building (Portland, Oregon)
Encyclopedia
The Kress Building is a building located in downtown
Portland
, Oregon
, listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
It was built in 1928 for S. H. Kress & Co.
. As of 2011, tenants of the building include Nike
and Sephora
.
in 1928 from plans by their corporate architect, E. J. Hoffman.
The steel frame building rests on a concrete foundation. Its exterior is faced entirely with cream colored glazed terra cotta
, enhanced with a variety of classically inspired decorative motifs. The roof is flat. The footprint of the building is rectangular; its original 100 square feet was extended to the east by a 50 × 100-foot single story wing in 1953 when an adjoining building was acquired and faced with terra cotta to conform with the rest of the block.
The store's design is in the Commercial style of the Chicago school
, with detailing in the Classical vein. It exhibits the retail base including mezzanine level and multiple stories capped with a full classical entablature
that are characteristic of Commercial style emporium
s. The attic, or parapet
wall above the cornice carries the store's title in escutcheons centered on either street face. While the entire scheme is conservative, especially in consideration of its late date, it is a generally well-preserved and well-crafted part of the aggregation of fireproof tall buildings dating from the 1910s and 1920s which distinguishes Portland's central business district.
Downtown Portland
Downtown Portland, the city center of Portland, Oregon, United States, is located on the west bank of the Willamette River. It is in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and is where most of the city's high-rise buildings are found....
Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
It was built in 1928 for S. H. Kress & Co.
S. H. Kress & Co.
S. H. Kress & Co. was the trading name of a chain of "five and dime" retail department stores in the United States, which operated from 1896 to 1981....
. As of 2011, tenants of the building include Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
and Sephora
Sephora
Sephora is a chain of cosmetics stores founded in France in 1970 and acquired by Paris-based conglomerate LVMH in 1997. The Sephora chain includes more than 750 stores in 17 countries...
.
Description
The five-story, store and office building is located on the northeast corner of SW Fifth Avenue and Morrison Street in the center of Portland's retail district. It was built for S. H. Kress & Co.S. H. Kress & Co.
S. H. Kress & Co. was the trading name of a chain of "five and dime" retail department stores in the United States, which operated from 1896 to 1981....
in 1928 from plans by their corporate architect, E. J. Hoffman.
The steel frame building rests on a concrete foundation. Its exterior is faced entirely with cream colored glazed terra cotta
Glazed architectural terra-cotta
Glazed architectural terra-cotta is a ceramic masonry building material popular in the United States from the late 19th century until the 1930s, and still one of the most common building materials found in U.S. urban environments...
, enhanced with a variety of classically inspired decorative motifs. The roof is flat. The footprint of the building is rectangular; its original 100 square feet was extended to the east by a 50 × 100-foot single story wing in 1953 when an adjoining building was acquired and faced with terra cotta to conform with the rest of the block.
The store's design is in the Commercial style of the Chicago school
Chicago school (architecture)
Chicago's architecture is famous throughout the world and one style is referred to as the Chicago School. The style is also known as Commercial style. In the history of architecture, the Chicago School was a school of architects active in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century...
, with detailing in the Classical vein. It exhibits the retail base including mezzanine level and multiple stories capped with a full classical entablature
Entablature
An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
that are characteristic of Commercial style emporium
Emporium
Emporium is a term used for a store selling a wide variety of goods, and for marketplaces or trading centres in ancient cities ....
s. The attic, or parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
wall above the cornice carries the store's title in escutcheons centered on either street face. While the entire scheme is conservative, especially in consideration of its late date, it is a generally well-preserved and well-crafted part of the aggregation of fireproof tall buildings dating from the 1910s and 1920s which distinguishes Portland's central business district.