Owen Building
National Register Listing
Street Address:
1321 Lady Street, Columbia, SC (Richland County)
Alternate Name:
Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Building; Southern Bell Building
NRHP Nomination
Record Number:
S10817740156
Description and Narrative:
The Owen Building, completed in 1949, is significant as an increasingly rare example of mid-century modern architecture in downtown Columbia. Designed by the prominent South Carolina architectural firm Lafaye, Lafaye, and Fair, the building’s sleek, repetitive façade emphasizes its materials: concrete, glass, and steel. The eight-story, flat-roofed light pink concrete skyscraper is believed to have been the largest building in Columbia to be built using the innovative time and cost saving tilt-up construction method. Frank Owen, who had made his personal fortune in structural steel, chose to invest in Columbia by building the city’s first postwar skyscraper. After engaging Lafaye, Lafaye, and Fair, Owen attracted Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph (SBT&T) to lease the stylistically and technologically modern office building. By committing to rent the Owen Building while it was still being designed, SBT&T had the rare opportunity to impact the office building’s design. The floors, roof and frame were of concrete on metal lath with plaster, while interior floors were covered in asphalt tile. SBT&T worked with the architects to create an innovative and functional interior design that suited the communications company. The firm designed a set of under-floor telephone ducts to be constructed under the first floor of the building. As this was SBT&T’s first office in the state, it is likely that this feature was the first of its kind in Columbia, if not South Carolina. This feature continued to make the building appealing to potential tenants decades after its construction. By the late 1950s, Southern Bell needed more space to house its computers. Frank Owen had Lafaye, Fair and Lafaye draw up plans for a suitable addition in 1959. Completed in 1961, the four-story building was known as the SBT&T Annex. Southern Bell continued to use the annex until 1980. Listed in the National Register June 14, 2013.
Period of Significance:
1947 – 1961;1949;1961
Level of Significance:
Local
Area of Significance:
Architecture
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
June 14 2013
