Federal Reserve Bank Building, Bank building in downtown Seattle, United States.

The Federal Reserve Bank Building is a six-story Modernist structure on the west side of 2nd Avenue between Madison and Spring Streets, with four floors above street level and two below. Its main facade is structural steel and reinforced concrete clad partly in light gray Indiana limestone, while the basement walls are faced in reddish-brown granite. A small plaza set back 18 feet from the street, with terraced planters of polished granite, fronts the main entrance.

The Seattle branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco opened in 1917 in leased space at the Baillargeon Building. Plans for a permanent building were approved on February 28, 1949, and the cornerstone was laid on April 20, 1950. The new building opened on January 2, 1951, sharing space with the FBI. The Federal Reserve left in 2008 for Renton, and the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.

The building exemplifies post-war banking design with its clean, functional form that conveys efficiency and order. The restrained material palette and precise detailing reflect how this institution aimed to communicate stability and trustworthiness through architecture.

The building occupies a half-block on the west side of 2nd Avenue between Madison and Spring Streets. The main entrance on 2nd Avenue is set back 18 feet behind a small plaza with terraced polished-granite planters. The first-floor lobby and former teller stands are the only public spaces; upper floors and the two basement levels are not open to visitors.

The structure was engineered with special safety features designed to protect against nuclear blast impacts and major earthquakes. This reflected Cold War-era thinking about what level of protection financial institutions needed to ensure continuity of operations.