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Occidental Life Insurance Company Building

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Occidental Life Insurance Company Building

Occidental Life Insurance Company Building, 1951, Lemmon and Freeth, Honolulu, HI.

Credit

Augie Salbosa, courtesy SAH Archipedia

Site overview

This dramatically cantilevered “island in the sky” immediately conveys a jet-age image of modernity. The smooth concrete and glass, 868-square foot executive office is cantilevered out from a three-story pylon. It adds a gravity-defying tension to the building's already dynamic interplay of horizontal and vertical thrusts. The pylon’s Arizona sandstone veneer on its sleek streamlined horizontality was a popular material in Hawaii from the late 1940s through the early 1960s. The building's combination of materials--sandstone walls, smooth concrete lanai railings, cast stone columns, wrought-iron stair rails, and tile pavers--also typifies the period. This L-shaped structure was originally two stories in height and the cantilevered office and third story were added in 1967.

How to Visit

Private commercial building

Location

1163 South Beretania Street
Honolulu, HI, 96814

Country

US

Case Study House No. 21

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Occidental Life Insurance Company Building, 1951, Lemmon and Freeth, Honolulu, HI.

Credit:

Augie Salbosa, courtesy SAH Archipedia

Completion

1951

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