The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Building is a four-story limestone Beaux Arts classical revival building. Designed by Cass Gilbert, it faces south onto Lafayette Park and the White House. While the colonnaded corner building has been altered over the years, its appearance from the street is virtually unchanged. Most of its significant interior spaces and finishes are also intact.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Building occupies a prominent corner site across from the northwestern edge of Lafayette Park. To the east is the Hay-Adams Hotel, an elegant Beaux Arts building constructed in 1928, separated from the Chamber of Commerce Building by a recessed limestone porte-cochere. The Chamber of Commerce Building adds an imposing presence to the predominantly low-scale 19th century buildings surrounding the Park. It echoes the form of the earlier U.S. Treasury Annex, designed by the same architect, across from the southeastern edge of the Park.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Building exhibits two principal facades, each 11 bays wide, on Connecticut Avenue (west) and H Streets (south). The building displays the tripartite vertical organization and symmetry typical of Beaux Arts design. Rusticated limestone above a granite watertable forms the one-story base of the building. The three-story shaft rises above a simple belt-course and is composed of a colonnade of 10 engaged Corinthian columns framed by pilasters. A full Corinthian entablature supporting a balustrade crowns the building. Small lion heads enliven the fascia of the cornice...
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Building, designed by Cass Gilbert in 1925, is an-excellent example of Gilbert's work and of the influence of the City Beautiful movement and the MacMillan Commission Report on the city of Washington. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which continues to occupy the building, embodies the institutional role of 20th century government lobbying organizations in Washington. The Chamber of Commerce Building meets National Register Criterion [for Architecture] because it represents the work of Cass Gilbert, one of the most accomplished architects of the early 20th century. It also meets National Register Criterion [Commerce] because of its association with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, an organization that has represented American business interests in Washington since its inception in 1912.
The building continues to serve as the headquarters for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It is in excellent condition.