Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler completed the Guaranty Building, first called the Prudential Building, here in Buffalo, New York, in 1896, and its 13 floors climb in front of you. This is the 13-floor building, 167 feet (51 m) high, envisioned by Buffalonian businessman Hascal T. Taylor as a speculative office called "The Taylor Building" in the developing downtown district. The Guaranty Construction Company was contracted to build, and the design aimed to attract high-quality tenants such as lawyers through proximity to civic institutions, desirable amenities, and the captivating touch of an avant-garde architect like Sullivan.
Taylor’s untimely death as the project neared construction changed plans, and the Guaranty ultimately took the project on alone. Today the building stands recognized as a National Historic Landmark and sits within the Joseph Ellicott Historic District, a testament to audacious design and commercial ambition at the turn of the century. Feel the scale of those 13 floors, imagine the street-level bustle that drew legal offices here, and notice the limestone and ornament that mark Sullivan’s hand.
Picture the adjacent County and City Municipal Building carrying that same turn-of-the-century civic ambition next door.