Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker

Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker was a prestigious New York architectural firm.

The firm had an illustrious heritage, the parent company being founded in New York City by Cyrus L.W. Eidlitz in 1885. In 1900 he added partner Andrew C. McKenzie and when Eidlitz left the firm in 1910 he was replaced by Stephen Francis Voorhees (1878-1965) and Paul Gmelin. Following McKenzie's death in 1926 Ralph Walker, who had been employed for several years with the company, was added as a partner and the name was changed to Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker. In 1938, reflecting new changes in the partnership, the name was changed to Voorhees, Walker, Foley and Smith, and in 1955 to Voorhes, Walker, Smith and Smith.^[1] Mr. Voorhees held a senior partner position until January 1959, when he became a consultant.^[2] Following Perry Coke Smith's retirement in 1968, the firm's name was changed to Haines Lundberg Waehler, and in its current form is known today as HLW.

The firm was well known for its Art Deco buildings.

Notable commissions

• Justice Court Building, Glen Cove, New York

All in New York City unless otherwise noted

• Barclay-Vesey Building, 1920–1926
• 340 W 55th Street, originally the National Bible Institute School and Dormitory, 1922-1924^[3]
• New Jersey Bell Headquarters Building, Newark, New Jersey, 1929
• Times Square Building, Rochester, New York, 1929
• 60 Hudson Street, 1930
• 1 Wall Street (Irving Trust Company Building) 1932
• 32 Avenue of the Americas, 1932
• Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company Building, Washington, D.C.

References

1. Walker, Ralph Ralph Walker: Architect, of Voorhees Gmelin & Walker, Voorhees Walker Foley & Smith, Voorhees Walker Smith & Smith , Henanan House, New York, 1957 p. 14
2. Robert D. Kuhn (March 1990). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Justice Court Building". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
3. Stone, Stone Publishing Company, Volume 43, 1922, p. 91.

• Wilson, Richard Guy, The AIA Gold Medal, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1984 p 184-185