Rohm and Haas Corporate Headquarters

Rohm and Haas Corporate Headquarters
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
(2013)
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Location	100 South Independence Mall West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates	39°57′1″N 75°9′5″W / 39.95028°N 75.15139°W / 39.95028; -75.15139Coordinates: 39°57′1″N 75°9′5″W / 39.95028°N 75.15139°W / 39.95028; -75.15139
Built	1964
Architect	Pietro Belluschi Alexander Ewing for George M. Ewing Co.
Architectural style	International style
NRHP reference #	07000031
Added to NRHP	February 9, 2007

The Rohm and Haas Corporate Headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States was built as the headquarters for the former chemical manufacturing company Rohm and Haas. Completed in 1964, the building was the first private investment for the urban renewal of the Independence Mall area. Only two blocks from Independence Hall the building, designed by Pietro Belluschi and George M. Ewing Co., was lauded for its respect to the nearby park and historical buildings. Philadelphia's city planners praised the Rohm and Haas Corporate Headquarters as a standard for all redevelopment buildings.

The nine-story building's most notable feature is its translucent, corrugated sunscreens. Supported by aluminum lattices throughout the building's facade, the sunscreens are made of Rohm and Haas's principal product, Plexiglas. In 2007 the Rohm and Haas Corporate Headquarters was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and today is considered one of the best examples of the International style.

The Rohm and Haas Corporate Headquarters was conceived as part of the city of Philadelphia's plan to improve and revive the area around Independence Hall. Along with the creation of a park north of Independence Hall, the area saw the construction of new and modern buildings including a federal courthouse, a new Philadelphia Mint and the Rohm and Haas Building. For the revival of the Independence Mall area, city planner Edmund Bacon approached Otto Haas to move Rohm and Haas, a Philadelphia-based chemical manufacturing company, to Independence Mall. According to legend, Haas reportedly said, "This city may or may not survive. But if companies like Rohm and Haas desert it, then surely the city will not survive!" Federal funds for private investors investing in urban renewal land was also a significant factor in Rohm and Haas's decision to stay in Philadelphia.