Window detail

Image ©2009 Sonja Mason

Blood Warehouse (Gilbert Building)

Other Names:

Boston Northwest Realty Wacouta Street Warehouse; Gilbert Building

Location:

413 Wacouta Street, Saint Paul, Minnesota

Design & Construction:

1893-1894[1893-1894 Irish-1999; 1893-1894 Christen-2001]

Architect:

Cass Gilbert 

Like the Endicott Building (1888-1890), the design of the T. L. Blood Warehouse was inspired by Italian Renaissance sources. The design adapted Italian cornices and window details to a modern late nineteenth-century multi-story warehouse. The over-scaled cornice and the complex arched upper-level windows compensate for the narrow width of the building. Effective, also, is the use of decorative sheet metal bands and trim in the design.

The client for the project was the Boston Northwest Realty Company, which retained Cass Gilbert to design several buildings. The company, which had offices in several cities including Saint Paul, constructed new buildings or remodeled existing buildings for existing clients and tenants. It provided a wide range of real estate options to its clients, including warehouse space or entire warehouses, commercial storefronts, office space, and hotels. T.L. Blood & Company, the client for this building, manufactured paint.

Following a major renovation in the 1980s, the Blood Warehouse was renamed the Gilbert Building in honor of its architect.