Hartford, Connecticut, is well known as the city of insurance companies. When one of the oldest of these, the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, needed more space for business expansion in the 1950s, it decided to give up its headquarters in the center of town and erect a new building about five miles northward near the smaller town of Bloomfield.
The new headquarters was completed in 1957 on 280 acres of rolling farmland. The bucolic site, campus-like plan, and extensive amenities, including a full-service cafeteria and after-hours programs, reflected a desire to offer a highly civilized and satisfying office environment to Connecticut General employees. The building set new standards for flexible space planning, efficiency of operation, economy of construction methods, maintenance programs, and planning for future expansion.
