Federal Reserve Bank Building, Neoclassical bank building in Financial District, San Francisco, United States
The Federal Reserve Bank Building at 400 Sansome Street is a Beaux-Arts structure designed by George W. Kelham and completed in 1924. An Ionic colonnade runs along the lower levels, while the upper storeys follow the Moderne fashion of the period. A row of free-standing eagles perches above the large entablature, and the foundation was built to carry fourteen more storeys of offices.
Architect George W. Kelham designed this building, which opened in 1924 as the headquarters for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. It was built to serve the monetary policy and banking needs of the western region.
The banking hall takes its name from the Bently Reserve, the building's current owner since 2005. Its Temple-style interior holds Jules Guérin's mural Traders of the Adriatic, showing Venetian shipping merchants accepting receipts for goods on deposit. The hall and board rooms are now booked for fundraisers, meetings and conferences.
The building occupies the block bounded by Sansome, Sacramento, Battery and Commercial streets; the main entrance is on Sansome Street. The upper floors are rented as offices, while the Banking Hall and board rooms are booked for events, meetings and conferences, so public access is limited to those occasions. The bronze sphere by Fritz Koenig stands on Commercial Street, between the building and the LeMeridien hotel.
The foundation was built to carry fourteen extra storeys that were never added, so the 1924 building is shorter than planned. Two bronze sculptures by Arman, Dionysus and Hermes, were placed at the Sansome Street entrance in 1990 and count as one work, "Hermes and Dyonisos: Monument to Analysis."
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