1320 Main Street
Meridian Building
Merging old and new, this seventeen-story Post-Modern style addition to Columbia’s skyline features a mixture of design influences. The skyscraper’s foundation dramatically incorporates the façade of the former Consolidated Building, a 19th-century structure redesigned in 1912 by Columbia architect J. Carroll Johnson to reflect the Spanish Gothic style. Additionally, the Meridian building uses five columns, placed at the sidewalk’s edge, to give a feeling of architectural and physical continuity with buildings that formerly stood on the block. Technology-inspired elements are placed throughout the building’s elevations and a pergola-like roof line sets this high-rise apart from later 20th- and early 21st-century skyscrapers.
- Architect: Stevens & Wilkinson
- Architectural Style: Post-Modern
- Built: 2004
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Meridian Building, 2010. Historic Columbia collection
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More than a century ago, as this circa-1913 image attests, this block of Main Street looked vastly different than today. The Consolidated building, whose facade comprises part the Meridian building, can be seen at lower right. Image courtesy Richland Library
