Editing Singer Building (section)

{{Short description|Former skyscraper in Manhattan, New York}}
{{About|the former building in New York City|other uses|Singer Building (disambiguation)}}
{{Featured article}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox building
| name             = Singer Building
| image            = Singer Bldg. LCCN00652684 (cropped).jpg
| image_size       = 250px
| highest_prev     = [[Philadelphia City Hall]]
| highest_next     = [[Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower]]
| highest_start    = 1908
| highest_end      = 1909
| highest_reflabel = talleststatus
| location         = 149 [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]], [[Manhattan]], [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]]
| coordinates      = {{coord|40|42|35|N|74|00|39|W|region:US-NY|display=inline,title}}
| mapframe-wikidata=yes
| mapframe-id      = Q1144187
| start_date       = {{start date and age|1897}}
| completion_date  = {{ubl|1898 (Singer Building)|1899 (Bourne Building)}}
| renovation_date  = 1906–1908
| demolished_date  = 1967–{{end date and age|1969}}
| status           = demolished
| building_type    = Commercial offices
| roof             = {{cvt|612|ft}}
| tip              = {{cvt|674|ft}}
| architectural_style = [[Beaux-Arts architecture|Beaux-Arts]] and [[French Second Empire style|French Second Empire]]
| top_floor        = 41
| floor_count      = 41 (+1 below ground)
| elevator_count   = 16
| cost             =
| floor_area       =
| architect        = [[Ernest Flagg]]
| engineer         = {{ubl|Boller & Hodge (steel engineers)|Charles G. Armstrong (mechanical engineers)}}
| developer        = [[Singer Corporation|Singer Manufacturing Company]]
| owner            =
| management       =
| references       =
}}

The '''Singer Building''' (also known as the '''Singer Tower'''){{efn|The "Singer Tower" name generally referred only to the Singer Building's tower, which covered a small portion of the [[land lot]].<ref name="Semsch p. 9" /><ref name="HABS p. 89" />}} was an office building and [[early skyscrapers|early skyscraper]] at the northwestern corner of [[Liberty Street (Manhattan)|Liberty Street]] and [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]] in the [[Financial District, Manhattan|Financial District]] of [[Lower Manhattan]], New York City. Serving as the headquarters of the [[Singer Corporation|Singer Manufacturing Company]], it was commissioned by the company's leader [[Frederick Gilbert Bourne]] and designed by architect [[Ernest Flagg]] in multiple phases from 1897 to 1908. The building's architecture contained elements of the [[Beaux-Arts architecture|Beaux-Arts]] and [[French Second Empire style|French Second Empire]] styles.

The building was composed of four distinct sections. The original 10-story Singer Building at 149&nbsp;Broadway was erected between 1897 and 1898, and the adjoining 14-story Bourne Building on Liberty Street was built from 1898 to 1899. In the first decade of the 20th&nbsp;century, the two buildings were expanded to form the 14-story base of the Singer Tower, which rose another 27 stories. The [[facade]] was made of brick, stone, and [[Architectural terracotta|terracotta]]. A [[dome]] with a [[Roof lantern|lantern]] capped the tower. The [[Foundation (engineering)|foundation]] of the tower was excavated using [[caisson (engineering)|caisson]]s; the building's base rested on shallower foundations. The Singer Building used a [[steel frame]], though [[load-bearing wall]]s initially supported the original structure before modification. When completed, the 41-story building had a [[marble]]-[[Stone veneer|clad]] entrance lobby, 16 elevators, {{Convert|410000|ft2|m2|abbr=}} of office space, and an [[observation deck]].

With a roof height of {{Convert|612|ft||abbr=}}, the Singer Tower was the [[Skyscraper#History of the tallest skyscrapers|tallest building in the world]] from 1908 to 1909, when it was surpassed by the [[Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower]]. The base occupied the building's entire [[land lot]]; the tower's floors took up just one-sixth of that area. Despite being regarded as a city icon, the Singer Building was razed between 1967 and 1969 to make way for [[One Liberty Plaza]], which had several times more office space than the Singer Tower. At the time of its destruction, the Singer Building was the [[List of tallest voluntarily demolished buildings|tallest building ever to be demolished by its owners]], a distinction it held until [[270 Park Avenue (1960–2021)|270 Park Avenue]] was demolished in 2019.