Just around the corner from Columbia, SC’s iconic Classical Revival style state house at the corner of Lady Street and Sumter Street is a trio of buildings now known as “The Lady.” The oldest and most prominent is a 1920s brick tower known originally as the Masonic Temple Building. By the 1950s, the demand for downtown office space incentivized the construction of a L-shaped Mid-Century Modern annex by the Palmetto State Life Insurance Company. The annex was intentionally designed according to contemporary trends as a contrast to the original building. The third building, a glass and concrete structure nestled on the south side of the original masonic temple, was added by the Merrill Lynch company in the 1980s.
This project is still in progress.
Photos by Thomas Hammond for The Styx Co.