Large Basket Building

The Big Basket building in Newark, Ohio, United States, was designed and constructed as the headquarters of Longaberger Company, which produced handcrafted maple baskets and other lifestyle products. The building was planned as a 160-fold replica of the company’s best-selling product, the Medium Market Basket.

The base of the building measures 59 meters in length and 38 meters in width, while the roof section is 62 meters long and 42 meters wide. Along the roofline, the total length is 208 feet (approximately 63.4 m) and the width is 142 feet (approximately 43.3 m). The building is accessible via 1500 East Main Street and is located on the southern side of Ohio State Route 16.

The building has seven floors and a total usable area of 17,000 square meters, featuring a central atrium with a glass ceiling that allows natural light to enter. Two massive steel handles on the building, each weighing approximately 75 tons, were designed to be heated during winter to prevent ice buildup. The design, which required upper floors to be wider than lower ones, posed significant construction challenges. As former Longaberger president Jim Klein noted, although the building appears simple from the outside, its interior reveals detailed architectural craftsmanship.

^{Longaberger Basket Şirketi, Newark, OH} (flickr)

Big Basket was completed in 1997 and began serving as the Longaberger Company’s headquarters. When the company ceased operations in 2016, the building was closed to the public. In 2019, during a fundraising tour organized by Heritage Ohio, the building was reopened to the public for the first time, attracting more than 600 visitors. Some of the cherry wood used in the building’s construction was sourced from the Longaberger Golf Club property in Hannover.

Big Basket is one of the leading examples of postmodern architecture and innovative corporate headquarters. The building’s details are completed with decorative elements referencing Longaberger’s handcrafted baskets and gold-leafed signage.

The Longaberger Company closed in 2018, and the building remained vacant for an extended period. Sold for $1.2 million in 2018, the building was relisted on the market in 2021. Today, it is being evaluated for restoration and potential use as temporary office, hotel, or residential space.