The Meadows Building, Dallas
Texas 1955 Click
all photos to enlarge.
The
Meadows Building is one of the few examples of original classic 50's era architecture
left in Dallas. The only major alteration of this building was the removal of
the southwest wing and courtyard seen here in these original 1955 aerial photos
of the Meadows Building. The courtyard was on top of the parking garage between
the wings. There is still a parking garage in the same area but the courtyard
was replaced with a fountain and water garden type of thing. There is now a larger
office building in the general area where the southwest wing was. Check out the
roof designs in these original photos. Seriously cool! This photo is looking from
the southwest toward the northeast.
J.N. MacCammon is named as the architect on the the Meadows building plaque. I
did an internet search found that he also is named as architect of the Seattle
Municipal building completed in 1962. Here is a link to the Seattle site with
photos of the building. It's VERY similar to the Meadows.
This
photo was taken looking toward the southwest. The building looks pretty much the
same today from this angle. The photos below were taken in 2003 but as of this
writing the Meadows is still in OK shape.
The Meadows Building Now
The
Meadows as it is now. The office building that was built to the southwest of the
Meadows can be seen to the right in the photo. There is now a security desk in
the lobby of the Meadows which ruins the look of the lobby. The Meadows lobby
is one of the most amazing examples of space-age googie 1950s design I have ever
seen. See lobby photos below.
The
north side of the building has only the bands of windows on each floor with the
walk-around balcony at the 2nd floor level. Each end is capped with pinkish marble.
I don't know what the blueish green material is between the bands of windows.
It reminds me of terrazo but that can't be what it is. It's in corrugated panels.
A close up can be seen below in this photo. Blue
green material stuff. The south side has it too but it can't be seen in the
photos because it's down behind the brick balcony railings. The "blue green
material stuff" photo was taken on one of the south balconies.
Here's
the south side of the building. Each floor has a full-length balcony running the
entire length of the building. The south offices have doors that open onto each
balcony. The building also has 2 roof terraces connected by north and south walkways
at roof level.
A bit of the new courtyard can be seen in this photo. Not as cool as the original
but at least the open space between the buildings was maintianed instead of cramming
in as much "rental space" as possible.
This
is the southwest corner of the building where the southwest wing used to be. If
you ever go by the Meadows you can see signs of where the wing was removed. The
first 2 floors are set-in at an angle from the end of the building. The southwest
wing extended out at the angle of the first 2 floors.
Here
is a view of the northwest corner of the building. The angle of the first 2 floors
can be seen better in this photo.
This is the southeast
corner of the southeast wing. This wing has the blue-green corrugated material
stuff and windows along the 1st floor and red brick railed full-length balconies
along the 2nd floor on the east and west sides of the wing. There is a loading
dock on the lower level at the south end.
Walk-around Meadows Photos.
Click thumbnails to enlarge.
These photos a pretty
much self explanatory. I tried to capture the overall coolness of the place. The
main entrance is amazing. The entrance is a combination of terrazo, green marble,
red brick and white (stone?) panels. The light fixtures in the main lobby are
of particular interest. I call them "jet engine air intake" light fixtures.
There are also some amazing cheese-hole-aluminum tube air registers in the entry
between the the doors. Another cool feature in the lobby is the amoeba shaped
dropped section of the ceiling.
The
Meadows Building is one of the few examples of original classic 50's era architecture
left in Dallas. The only major alteration of this building was the removal of
the southwest wing and courtyard seen here in these original 1955 aerial photos
of the Meadows Building. The courtyard was on top of the parking garage between
the wings. There is still a parking garage in the same area but the courtyard
was replaced with a fountain and water garden type of thing. There is now a larger
office building in the general area where the southwest wing was. Check out the
roof designs in these original photos. Seriously cool! This photo is looking from
the southwest toward the northeast.
This
photo was taken looking toward the southwest. The building looks pretty much the
same today from this angle. The photos below were taken in 2003 but as of this
writing the Meadows is still in OK shape. 
The
Meadows as it is now. The office building that was built to the southwest of the
Meadows can be seen to the right in the photo. There is now a security desk in
the lobby of the Meadows which ruins the look of the lobby. The Meadows lobby
is one of the most amazing examples of space-age googie 1950s design I have ever
seen. See lobby photos below. 
The
north side of the building has only the bands of windows on each floor with the
walk-around balcony at the 2nd floor level. Each end is capped with pinkish marble.
I don't know what the blueish green material is between the bands of windows.
It reminds me of terrazo but that can't be what it is. It's in corrugated panels.
A close up can be seen below in this photo. Blue
green material stuff. The south side has it too but it can't be seen in the
photos because it's down behind the brick balcony railings. The "blue green
material stuff" photo was taken on one of the south balconies. 
Here's
the south side of the building. Each floor has a full-length balcony running the
entire length of the building. The south offices have doors that open onto each
balcony. The building also has 2 roof terraces connected by north and south walkways
at roof level. 
This
is the southwest corner of the building where the southwest wing used to be. If
you ever go by the Meadows you can see signs of where the wing was removed. The
first 2 floors are set-in at an angle from the end of the building. The southwest
wing extended out at the angle of the first 2 floors. 
Here
is a view of the northwest corner of the building. The angle of the first 2 floors
can be seen better in this photo. 
This is the southeast
corner of the southeast wing. This wing has the blue-green corrugated material
stuff and windows along the 1st floor and red brick railed full-length balconies
along the 2nd floor on the east and west sides of the wing. There is a loading
dock on the lower level at the south end. 
