TWA Corporate Headquarters' Building

TWA Corporate Headquarters' Building

The TWA Corporate Headquarters Building, in the Crossroads neighborhood of downtown Kansas City, was the corporate headquarters of Trans World Airlines until 1964, when the airline moved to New York City.

The selection of Kansas City as the headquarters for TWA, initially via Transcontinental Air Transport, was said to have been made by Charles Lindbergh. The building was designed by architects Raymond E. Bales, Jr. and Morris Schechter and built by the Long Construction Company of Kansas City; site work began in May 1955, and construction was completed on October 31, 1956. The building's exterior was decorated in TWA's signature red and white corporate colors. The three-story L-shaped commercial facility was dominated by aluminum panels and corrugated concrete paneling. It was constructed using the Youtz-Slick construction method, in which steel support beams were first erected and then concrete slabs were poured at ground level and lifted into place by hydraulic jacks; the slabs were then bolted and welded onto the beams, which allowed for a reduction in construction costs and construction time.

By 1964 TWA had become a major international figure in aviation, which prompted a move of the airline's executive offices to New York City. The 1735 Baltimore building remained headquarters for TWA's accounting department, ticket office, credit department, and cargo department until 1969; the airline continued to use the building for training its flight attendants until opening the Breech Academy in nearby suburban Overland Park, KS in 1969.

In 2002 the TWA building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It had been vacant for several years, though plans as late as 2003 called for it to be converted to residential condominiums under the name of TWA Lofts LLC. Instead, in early 2005, the Kansas City-based urban development firm The Nicholson Group hired local architectural firm el dorado inc to design and coordinate the restoration. Following the renovation, it was then leased to the Kansas City-based advertising agency Barkley Inc.; the agency moved into the renovated building on November 14, 2006.