Located on 53 West Jackson Boulevard, the Monadnock Building is a 16-story skyscraper in Chicago's south Loop. Commissioned by real estate developers Peter and Shepherd Brooks, who had amassed a fortune in the shipping insurance business, the building stands at 215 feet (66 m). It is the tallest load-bearing brick or masonry building ever constructed and employed the first portal system of wind bracing in the United States.
The north half of the building was designed by the firm of Burnham & Root and built starting in 1891. The later south half, constructed in 1893, was designed by Holabird & Roche. When completed, the building was the largest office building in the world. Its ornamented staircases represent the first structural use of aluminum in building construction.
The building underwent a major renovation in 1938, which was one of the first major skyscraper renovations ever undertaken to revolutionize maintenance. It was sold in 1979 to owners who restored the building to its original condition, a project recognized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1987.
The success of the building was the catalyst for an important new business center at the southern end of the Loop. Today, the building is divided into offices ranging from 250 square feet to 6,000 square feet and primarily serves independent professional firms.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
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