600 Building
Corpus Christi, Nueces County
Completed in 1963 to meet the demand for office space in the growing oil and gas industry of south Texas, the 21-story 600 Building is a prominent landmark on the edge of the upper bluffs in downtown Corpus Christi. The firm Jenkins and Hoff utilized modernist design principals such as a rectilinear plan, exposed structural elements, and decorative elements limited to symmetrically-placed precast concrete box window shades. At its completion, the building was at the forefront of modern taste and style in Corpus Christi. The 600 Building embodies distinctive characteristics of skyscraper design in the early 1960s, melding components of Meisian, Brutalist, and New Formalist design in its three-part façade composition, consisting of a ground-floor lobby and 5-floor parking garage, a set-back office tower with distinctive precast concrete window shades, and a penthouse. The building represents the work of the firm Jenkins and Hoff, and was listed under Criterion C in area of Architecture at the local level of significance. In addition, the building is associated with the economic prosperity of the postwar oil boom and the resulting development of office towers in the central business district, was listed under Criterion A in the area of Commerce at the local level of significance.
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