When the Shell Building was erected in downtown St. Louis in 1926, fighting in World War I had just ended four years previous. An invention called the television had its first public demonstration. The St. Louis Browns still had another 27 years of baseball in St. Louis. And the Great Depression was three years away from gripping the world. Architectural firm Jamieson and Spearl designed the original U.S. headquarters of The Shell Oil Company to majestically hold court at the corner of 13th and Locust, and there she has stood for almost 85 years.
The 112,500-sq-ft building was U.S. headquarters for Shell until 1940. It changed ownership several times over its first 50 years, and it fell on hard times in the late 1970′s. In 1977, after the St. Louis Housing Authority vacated the building and plans were made to close it, Ellsworth Breihan purchased the property and planned to renovate it. However, Breihan died in 1980, just two hours after discussing his revitalization dream with Verner Burks, the architect on the renovation. Breihan’s family finished the project, and on the 10-year anniversary of the renovation, Breihan Properties held a “Shell-A-Bration” party to mark the occasion. Invitations to 800 St. Louisans beckoned them to “come out of their shell” and attend the celebration.
Today, The Shell Building continues to stand proud at 13th and Locust, as downtown revitalization efforts have been moving forward all around it for over 15 years. Washington Avenue is now home to many wonderful restaurants and lofts, the new Busch Stadium is almost five years old, and the nearby Central Library is about to undergo a $74 million renovation. The Shell Building plays host to engineering, marketing, architectural, and law firms, and a ground floor Thai restaurant. The future of The Shell Building has never looked so bright.
Fun facts:
- The neo-gothic 12-story building has a rounded footprint, following the curve of Locust onto North 13th Street. The unique half-shell shape of the building was conceived around Shell’s logo, and affords an above-average amount of offices with windows and views.
- The building has a limestone facade with granite highlights at street level, quarry tile floors and natural fluted oak columns in its arcade lobby, some marble walls and brass hardware, and bronze front doors.
- It was among the first office buildings in St. Louis to have central air conditioning.
- The building was originally slated to have a brick exterior.
- Famed General James H. Doolittle, leader of the first U.S. bombing run over Tokyo in 1942, worked in the Shell Building in the 1930′s as manager of Shell’s aviation department.
- Building employees for many years had a lunchtime tradition of picnicking in nearby Lucas Park.
- Two nearby structures have even longer pedigrees. Christ Church Cathedral was built in 1841, and the St. Louis Public Library was erected in 1912.
- A picture of The Shell Building appeared in several editions of the Encyclopedia Brittanica’s article on St. Louis.
- The Shell Building was the first downtown St. Louis office building to offer legal suite office space.
The Shell Building in St. Louis stands proud as part of a family of Shell Buildings around the world and the gallery below is an introduction to that family.
SHELL BUILDINGS WORLDWIDE
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- St. Louis
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- San Francisco
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- New Orleans
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- London
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- Houston
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- Brussels
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- Amsterdam
