The original section of the Temple Court Building was designed by the firm of Benjamin Silliman Jr. and James M. Farnsworth in the Queen Anne, neo-Grec, and Renaissance Revival styles.

The Beekman Residences, designed by Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel Architects, rises above the original building and annex, with pyramidal towers at its pinnacle.

Construction on the Beekman Residences tower started in 2014 and was completed in 2016; the original building was extensively renovated as well and reopened in 2016.

Two pyramidal towers on the northwest and northeast corners, as well as an annex on the southern side, contain a tenth floor.

[1][22] Immediately south of the Temple Court Building and Annex is the Beekman Residences, a 51-story,[b] 687-foot-tall (209 m) condominium tower[c] with its primary address at 115–117 Nassau Street.

[35] The original Temple Court Building's articulation consists of three horizontal sections, with granite cladding at its base and brick and terracotta on the other stories.

The four-story midsection is clad with brick, with terracotta spandrels between each story on the Beekman and Nassau Street sides, as well as band courses and other decorative elements.

[36] The northwestern and northeastern corner "towers" are topped by pyramidal slate roofs, both of which are surrounded by smaller ornamental pinnacles.

[55] South of the Temple Court Building and Annex is the Beekman Residences tower, completed in 2016 to a design by Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel Architects.

There are three double-height sections of the facade that have patterned engravings, modeled after the Temple Court Building's atrium, in place of windows.

[7][56] The interior of the tower is accessed by a double-height private lobby on Nassau Street, which contains a walnut-clad alcove with a black-marble reception desk.

The residences contain windows on two sides of the tower, with the living room typically at the corner, as well as 10-foot-tall (3.0 m) ceilings and oak floors.

[64] The first restaurant was originally known as the Augustine and operated by Keith McNally;[65][66] it closed permanently in July 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City.

[54] Farnsworth filed plans for a 10-story annex in January 1889, which would have a facade of stone, granite, and brick, with a roof of rock asphalt.

[31][84] The expansion was expected to cost $300,000 and would involve John Keleber as the mason, Post & McCord as the iron supplier, William Brennan as the stone-worker, and E. F. Haight as the carpenter.

[90] Another was the Tobacco Merchants' Association of the United States, which collectively participated in $700 million of trade annually in 1915[91] and was reported two years later as having the world's largest tobacco-related library.

[99][100] From the 1910s to the early 1940s, several tenants moved to the Temple Court Building, including the Swedish consul general in 1919,[101] the State, County and Municipal Workers of America in 1938,[102] as well as map publishers E. Belcher Hyde in 1940.

[6][36] Wakefield Realty sold the Temple Court Building the next year to the Region Holding Corporation, held by the Shulsky family.

[108] During the 1940s or 1950s, walls were erected on each floor to enclose the central court for fire-safety reasons, hiding the atrium, railings, and skylight from public view.

[32] The Shulsky family sold the property in 2003 to Rubin Schron,[112] and the owners filed plans to convert the building to apartments that year.

[4] In 2008, Joseph Chetrit and Charles Dayan purchased 5 Beekman Street from Schron for $61 million,[112][27] with plans to convert it into a 200-room hotel.

[112] While the legal disputes and sales were ongoing, the Temple Court Building became popular among urban explorers as well as photographers.

[122] The Temple Court Building also received a renovation, as Gerner Kronick + Valcarel replaced the skylight and refurbished its atrium with its original tiles and moldings.

[53] Colicchio and McNally were hired to run restaurants at 5 Beekman Street in September 2014,[64] and condominium sales commenced the next month.

[24][58] In August 2016, the Temple Court Building reopened as part of the Beekman Hotel, the remainder of which was located in the new residential tower.

[77][32][134] Conversely, critic Montgomery Schuyler praised the building before its completion as an "animation in the sky-line",[135] while Moses King wrote in A Handbook For New York City that Temple Court was "a fine office structure".

[138] Architectural historian Robert A. M. Stern, in his 1999 book New York 1880, said the Temple Court's twin peaks "gave it some of the presence of a true skyscraper".

[142] Vogue Australia said: "The main event is without a doubt the stunning nine-storey atrium, which draws guests to the centre of the building like a magnet.

Condé Nast Traveler wrote that the hotel was "a 19th-century "stunner" with a central location and design details that resembled a rural English manor.

[60] U.S. News & World Report wrote that, while guests generally praised the hotel's atmosphere and service, they also said that spaces were poorly lit.