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84 R-45 BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM Statement for the Press For release in morning newspapers of Saturday, August 7, 1937. - August 5, 1937. •Attached is a brief description of the new building of the Board of Governors which will be occupied -on Monday, August 9. * 85 2-58 FEDERAL RESERVE BUILDING Location Facing south on Constitution Avenue, the building of thti Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System occupies the square extending north between Twentieth and Twenty-first Streets to C Street. When the present temporary structures known as the Navy and Munitions Buildings on the south side of Constitution Avenue are removed, the Board's building will command an unobstructed view of the Mall and % s t Potomac Park with the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial in the immediate foreground and with the Potomac River, the Memorial Bridge and the Virginia shore just beyond. The building forms a part of a group along the north side of Constitution Avenue composed of the buildings of the Pan-American Union, the Public Health Service, the Federal Reserve, the National Academy of Sciences and the American Pharmaceutical Association. Selection of Site Since its organization in 1914 the Federal Reserve Board has occupied quarters provided for it in the Treasury Building and rented space in various privately owned office buildings. On June 19, 1954, Congress authorized the Federal Reserve Board to acquire a building site in the District of Columbia and to construct a building suitable and adequate in its judgment for its purposes. A careful survey resulted in the selection of the present site which was approved by the National Capital park and Planning Commission, by the Secretary of the Interior, who recommended it to the President, and by the President. Title was transferred to the Board by the Secretary of the Treasury on January 22, 1955, the purchase price paid by the Board being §754,585. Included in this acquisition is the vacant block lying immediately north of the building between Twentieth and Twenty-first Streets on C Street and a passageway under C Street has been constructed to connect the two properties. Competition for Selection of Architect The Board engaged Everett V. Meeks, Dean of the School of Fine Arts in Yale University, as its professional adviser in preparing a program for a competition to enable the Board to select an architect for the building, under the supervision of the Chairman of the Board's Building Committee, Adolph C. Miller. The program was approved by the Commission of Fine Arts, the National Capital Park and Planning Commission and the American Institute of Architects. During formulation of the program the Board had the benefit of the advice and assistance of the National Park Service of the Department of the Interior. Invitations to participate in the competition were sent to nine of the leading 86 7 -2- Z-38 architects of the United States, after consultation with the Chairman of the Commission of Fine Arts, and a jury to pass upon the designs submitted was selected, composed of three prominent architects, John W. Cross of New York City, William Emerson of Boston, and John Mead Howells of New York City, together with Frederic A. Delano, Chairman of the National Capital Park and Planning Commission, and Mr. Miller. Upon submission of the competitive designs the drawings of Paul P. Cret, of Philadelphia, were given first place by unanimous choice of the jury and this decision was approved by the Federal Reserve Board. Dr. Cret also had been the designer of the buildings of the PanAmerican Union and the Folgor Shakespeare Library. Character of Building The conditions under which the site on Constitution Avenue was acquired provided that the design and material of the exterior of the building should be subject to the approval of the Commission of Fine Arts and that the location of the building in relation to the adjoining streets should be as determined by the National Capital Park and Planning Commission. The Commission of Fine Arts proscribed that "the material of the exterior of the building is to be of white marble to conform to the other buildings along this portion of Constitution Avenue", and gave its views as to the general architectural character of the building. "The nature of the functions performed by the Federal Reserve Board" in the opinion of the Commission "dictates an architectural concept of dignity and permanence". The program for the competition of the architects also declared the following general principles: "The proximity of the building to the Lincoln Memorial and other nearby permanent structures already erected on Constitution Avenue or to be erected by the Government in the West Rectangle suggests that the exterior design of the building for the Federal Reserve Board should be in harmony with its environment. "It is, however, thought desirable that the aesthetic appeal of the exterior design should be made through dignity of conception, purity of line, proportion an$ scale rather than through stressing of merely decorative tir monumental . features. For this reason it is further suggested that the use of columns, pediments and other similar forms may be omitted and should be restricted tofi.minimum consistent with the character of the building as described. 87 -3- Z-38 "It is the Commission's view that 'the Federal Reserve Board building must be in general accord with the governmental buildings in Washington—it must seem at home in the city.'" The studies prepared by Dr. Cret, following his selection as architect, were approved by the National Capital Park and Planning Commission and by the Commission of Fine Arts. Construction of Building Plans and specifications drawn as a basis for letting a contract for the construction of the building were approved by the Federal Reserve Board on Januaiy 8, 1936. Invitations to bid were issued immediately to contracting firms experienced in the field of construction of Governmental buildings and, following the submission of bids, the contract was awarded to the lowest bidder, the George A. Fuller Company, for #3,484,000. A separate contract had been awarded for the demolition of the existing temporary building on the property, for which the Board received 5jl>18,358. The relation of the net useable area to cubic contents of the building is unusually high. The cost per cubic foot, exclusive of landscaping, was about 89#. Construction was begun in February, 1936. In the preparation for construction the Board had the assistance and cooperation not only of the Commission of Fine Arts and of the National Capital Park and Planning Commission, but also of the National Park Service of the Interior Department, of the Procurement Division of the Treasury Department, and of the Architect of the Capitol. A member of Dr. Cret 1 s firm, William H. Livingston, was his principal collaborator in the design and construction of the building. Associated with them were Moody and Hutchison, mechanical engineers, and William H. Gravell, structural engineer. The Board engaged Fred M. Kramer as its Superintendent of Construction. Exterior of Building The mass of the building was designed with a view of harmonizing in a general way with the building of the Academy of Sciences to the west and that of the Public Health Service to the east. Through the use of a similar cornice line the three buildings form a single composition dominated by the central portico of the Federal Reserve Building. The dimensions of the building proper are 344 feet eastwest and 242 feet north-south. The plan is H-shaped, with its principal architectural facade on Constitution Avenue and the entrance for general use on C Street. 88 -4- Z-38 The facades have the simplicity of treatment of American architecture contemporary with the creation of the City of Washington, which has been called the Architecture of the Republic or Federal Architecture. Both exteriors and interiors rely on harmony of proportion rather than on ornamentation. The entrance on Constitution Avenue is marked by a simple architectural motif of piers surmounted by an American eagle in white marble, of which Sidney Waugh was the sculptor. The entrance on C Street is marked by two pylons, which support figures in bas relief, symbolizing the United States on one side and the Federal Reserve System on the other. These figures were designed by John Gregory. The exterior of the building is of Georgia white marble. In contrast with the simple white marble wall surface is the design of the bronze windows, with spandrels of polished Swedish granite, on which bronze plaques are mounted. In the courts the spandrels are Alberene stone. The bronze balconies on Twentieth and Twenty-first Streets are especially interesting as they reproduce the railing of an old Philadelphia residence of the early part of the nineteenth century. Landscape A special treatment of the approach from Constitution Avenue was made possible by the fact that the building is set back approximately two hundred feet from Constitution Avenue. This permitted an interesting composition of terraces and steps leading to the main entrance. These terraces are flanked on each side by a formal garden, the central motif of which is a fountain of black Coopersburg granite surrounded by pebble mosaic and marble borders. The courts on the east and west sides, which give access to the ground floor of the building, are formal in character with planting designed to focus attention on wall fountains which face the bronze entrance gates. The mask forming part of the decorative composition for the fountain in the west courtyard was designed ty Walker Hancock. More than twenty varieties of plant materials have been placed in the Constitution Avenue gardens and courtyards. The landscaping was designed ty Dr. Cret and approved by the National Capital Park and Planning Commission and by the Commission of Fine Arts. The planting materials were selected by William H. Frederick, of the office of the Architect of the Capitol. Interior Design The Constitution Avenue entrance opens into a lobby, tho east wall of which contains a portrait relief of President Wilson, modeled -5- Z--38 by Herbert Adams. The inscription refers to President Wilson as the "Founder of the Federal Reserve System" and contains the following quotation from his first inaugural address: "We shall deal with our economic system as it is and as it may be modified, not as it might be if we had a clean sheet of paper to write upon; and step by step we shall make it what it should be." The lobby walls are faced with Kansas Lesina stone and the plaster ceiling is decorated with motifs of Greek coins and a relief of Cybele. In the center of the marble floor is a bronze plaque reproducing the seal of the Board of Governors. While the building faces on Constitution Avenue, it is expected that the C Street entrance will bo used more generally. A corridor extends from the Constitution Avenue entrance through the central portion of the building to the C Street entrance. A group of passenger elevators is located near the C Street entrance, while single elevators are located near the Constitution Avenue lobby. A monumental staircase in the central portion of the building leads from the first to the second floor. The steps, walls and architectural treatment of the stairs in this portion of the building are of travertine, while the floors are of American marbles, with mosaic borders on the second floor. The ceiling is composed of glass, with the coat-of-arms of the United States in bronze and molded glass as the focal point of interest above the monumental stairs. The ceilings of the surrounding corridors on the second floor are decorated with emblems of the twelve Federal reserve banks. Over each of twelve doorways opening from these corridors—six on the west side and six on the east side—are the named of the cities in which the Federal reserve banks are located and the designations of their districts. One of the interesting features of this portion of the building is the wrought iron work of Samuel Yellin. From the upper landing of these stairs the section set apart for the members of the Board of Governors and their immediate staffs on the second floor of the Constitution Avenue wing is entered through an elliptical anteroom, adjoining which is a reception room. This portion of the building, entirely separate from other sections of the building, accommodates the private offices of the Chairman and other members of the Board, the Board room, the Board's conference room and the Board's library. In the floor of the corridor at the main entrance to the Board room is a bronze seal of the Board of Governors. The Board room, 56 x 52 feet, the main entrance to which is in front of the elliptical anteroom, has a monumental fireplace, of Z-58 90 Tar'?rnelle Fleuri marble, at the west end. A bronze relief, set into the marble, symbolises stability and productivity. In the wall above the mantel is a reproduction of the coat-of-arms of the United States. On the east wall of the room is a Federal Reserve map of the United States, painted by Ezra Winter. The floor is Fontainebleu pattern parquet, with border of Belgian St. Anne Petit Melange marble. The bases of the walls and the doorways ara of Tavernelle Fleuri marble. The walls and ceilings are of painted plaster. Bronze frames hung upon the walls contain statistical charts. The furniture, furnishings and lighting fixtures of this section of the building were selected by the Board's architect with a view to maintaining a harmonious relation with the character and period of the architectural design. In this and other parts of the building marbles of various colors and textures, of which there are twenty-eight in the interior portions, have been used with an eye to harmony of color scheme between painted plaster work, woods used in doors and walls, and furnishings of rooms. Staff offices The Secretary's offices, the Legal Division, with its library, the Board's Fiscal Agent, and the Building Manager are located on the first floor. A central filing system in the north central portions of the first and second floors serves all parts of the Board's organization. In the C Street wing of the second floor are the offices of the Board's Division of Examinations and Division of Security Loans. The third floor is occupied try the Board's Division of Bank Operations and the Division of Research and Statistics, with its library. The fourth floor covers only the middle branch of the H form of the building and includes a cafeteria, dining rooms, first aid and rest rooms. A flagstone terrace over the west wing of the third floor is reached from the cafeteria. The ground floor contains service facilities, including a garage, mechanical equipment, mail and telegraph offices, telephone exchange, duplicating sections and repair shops, together with spaces for various storage purposes. Mechanical Equipment The building is airconditioned throughout with an automatic thermostatic control system designed to permit flexible operation. Steam is obtained from the central power plant of the Government, no power being manufactured within the building. Well-lighted offices, acoustic treatment of the ceilings, convenient locations of stairs, elevators of the latest automatic type, and careful planning combine to make the building efficient for administrative purposes.
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