HISTORY – built in 1936 - Architect: Albert Kahn

Upjohn Company was founded in 1886 by Dr. William E. Upjohn, a 1875 graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School. The company occupied several buildings in downtown Kalamazoo, some built for their research and manufacturing, but most repurposed from other industries. This was the first building designed purely for administration.

In 1934 it had become clear to the Upjohn Company executives that the repurposed cluster of buildings on Henrietta, East Lovell and East South Street in downtown Kalamazoo was no longer adequate to their needs. The company was doing very well, opening up new areas of research and the decision was made to hire Albert Kahn to design new buildings.

At that time Kahn and his firm were involved in designing almost 20% of the industrial facilities in the US. Kahn submitted designs for a 13 story factory and research tower along with a handsome limestone world headquarters building. By 1936 the buildings were complete. Financing for the buildings came from invested surplus, partly out of profits and did not interfere at all with dividends.

The brick walls of the building are faced with 4 inches of limestone, like the Civic Theater, City Hall and the 5/3 Bank Building. Between the windows on the exterior are spandrels of black granite – a stone also found in the inside of the building.The building has 48,000 square feet of space on four floors.

In 2005, the Pfizer Corporation donated the World Headquarters building to Bronson Healthcare Group. Unused for several years, the three story building was essentially sound but needed to be updated for the 21st century. New mechanical, electrical, sewer, gas and fiber optic systems were installed after asbestos abatement was complete. New elevators were also installed. Throughout the renovation process, SKP Design of Kalamazoo took great care to preserve the original Art Deco and streamline elements. Diekema-Hamann Architects and CSM Construction were also part of the renovation team.