By QINA LIU
qliu@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1613

Zilly Rosen, owner and artist at Zillycakes LLC, and Shannon Pilarski, head cake artist, had been awake for more than 18 hours.

They were assembling a 450-pound cake for Larkin Development Group's centennial celebration of the former warehouse of Larkin Soap Co. - now called the Larkin at Exchange Building  

"We came in thinking we might get a nap, we might not," Rosen said.

The cake was a scale model of the 10-story, 600,000-square-foot building at 726 Exchange St. The 18-inch-tall confection featured 2,200 windows, the Larkin Co. logo, a cell phone tower and a First Niagara sign.

"My job was to figure out how to build this structure," Rosen said.

She started the planning and design three months ago, then prepared the elements of the cake a week before assembly. A team from Zillycakes - including Rosen, Pilarski, Hannah Russell, Melinda Criola, Leann Palmer and Vera Parker-Kennedy - spent a total of 250 hours  on the project. All the while, their shop at 1008 Elmwood Ave. remained open.

Rosen and Pilarski moved the equipment to Chautauqua Café in the Larkin at Exchange Building at 6:30 p.m., June 16. They didn't finish until 10:36 a.m. the next day. The cake cutting was scheduled for noon.

"It's hard because cake is really soft and round, and to make it architectural is a challenge," according to Rosen.  

The project consisted of 15 sheet cakes. Each "floor" featured a different flavor and frosting combination, including red velvet, carrot, white, yellow and chocolate. Building tenants had voted on flavors for the cake, and the winning flavor for each floor was represented in Zillycakes' creation.

Howard Zemsky, managing partner of Larkin Development Group, said he wanted to celebrate the building's 100-year history because it is a testament to innovation.

"It has a unique history for Buffalo, and we like to have fun to celebrate what everyone in the building has accomplished," he said.  

The region was Buffalo's first manufacturing district and housed Larkin Soap Co., whose founder, John Larkin, hired Frank Lloyd Wright to design some of his buildings.

"Buildings like this ushered in a modern era of architecture," Zemsky said.

Years ago, the Larkin District was abuzz with thousands of workers. With the area's rebirth nine years ago, the building has once again attracted area businesses. Forty companies there have a combined work force of 3,500.

Each employee received a piece of the massive anniversary cake.

"Not many buildings have as rich a 100 years," Zemsky said.