Description

Built on a trapezoidal lot, the Banigan building is heavy and formal, with height and thickness. The two bottom stories are covered in rusticated granite, and on the top eight floors the building is smooth. String coursing runs above the second, fifth and ninth floors, and the flat roof is bordered by a huge copper cornice. The back façade is kept in cheaper brick cladding. The exterior of the Banigan building is classic and modern in its simplicity. Unlike the grandiose facades of many buildings of the nineteenth century, the Banigan building displays its intent to represent, as Providence’s first “skyscraper,” modernity, advancement, and the city.