THE FIRST CONCRETE SKYSCRAPER.
The building shown at the left in Plate 16 —the Ingalls building, Cincinnati, 0.—is of spe cial interest from a historical point of view at least, as it has the distinction of being the first skyscraper or high office building built of con crete. Regarding it, the "Architectural Record" (June, 1904) says : "During the progress of the work on the Ingalls building, some men of great ability, who should have known better, predicted that the structure would never reach the roof, and that even if it did, it would cer tainly crack all to pieces by shrinkage, and that it could not possibly withstand wind pressure. The facts are that it did reach the roof ; that there are no shrinkage cracks, and that the building not only has not blown over, but that in the highest winds there is not even a perceptible tremor, and that, too, with concrete walls only 8 inches thick from bottom to top, and the floors but 5 inches thick in unbroken slabs 16 feet square, a portion of which, on the second floor, carries a bank vault weigh ing nearly a hundred tons." The building occupies the northeast corner of Fourth and Vine streets, 50 feet on Fourth and 100 feet on Vine street; there are 15 stories and an attic. In the construction, so-called
structural steel is entirely dispensed with, re inforced concrete being used. All structural parts, such as columns and their footings, gird ers, beams, floors, roofs, wind-bracing, and stairs, and the exterior walls, except the face work, are of concrete 8 inches thick, reinforced with steel rods embedded in the concrete. The floors consist of slabs 16 feet square and 5 inches thick, with out any other supports than the beams at the edges in this area. The retaining wall under the sidewalk supporting the street is constructed in a similar manner, being figured very much like a floor set on edge.
The exterior faces consist of a veneer of mar ble for the first three stories, and enameled brick and terra-cotta for the remaining stories.
Metal sash is used in all the windows throughout, and cement trim around doors and windows instead of the usual wood. The base around the rooms is also of cement.