Downtown Ft. Worth Adaptive Reuse:  The Flat Iron Building

The Flatiron Building was originally built at 9th and Houston Street in 1906-07.  When constructed it was the tallest structure in North Texas. Acclaimed as "a great ornament to the city," it was commissioned by Dr. Bacon Saunders (born 1855), a physician in Fort Worth . Inspired by the Flatiron Building in New York City, Dr. Saunders hired the Fort Worth architectural firm of Sanquinet & Staats to design the handsome structure. For a triangular site resembling the shape of a flatiron, the firm of Sanguinet & Staats designed for Dr. Saunders an outstanding high-rise office building of ten stories, although the economy of the time dictated that it be reduced to seven. Over the years the building has been home to medical offices, a laboratory, ladies' parlor, and operating room.  Additionally the building has housed a drug store on the ground floor, and has provided offices for real estate and insurance agents as well as numerous other firms.  The building has been adapted to these respective uses over the past century and has always served the community well. Having been fully renovated in the late 1990's, it is the oldest remaining high-rise building in Fort Worth and is the only flatiron in Texas.