The main entrance is through a triumphal arch on the relatively narrow Bowery elevation, which is designed to resemble a Corinthian temple.

Both spaces are decorated with mosaic-tile floors and marble colonnades, and the banking room also features a double-height coffered ceiling with a square skylight.

[16][7][21] According to Stanford White's descendants, the building's exterior "invoked the authority of ancient Rome" with its design details, including porticos on Bowery and on Grand Street.

[11][12] In addition, the roof is largely covered with Roman tile, except above the banking room, where there is a glass skylight with metal ribs.

According to architectural critic Russell Sturgis, this was done not only to give the impression of an "applied facade" but also to hide the fact that the two streets met at an obtuse angle.

[10] After the building was converted into an event venue in 2002,[27] a VIP seating area with a fireplace was placed one story above the main banking room.

[29] Because the Bowery Savings Bank was mostly intended for working-class clients, White designed a waiting room on the narrower eastern section of the plot.

[20] The rectangular space measures 45 by 83 feet (14 by 25 m) and contains two colonnades of six columns each, which divide the northern and southern sides of the room into five bays.

The floor is surrounded by red, orange, yellow, and black tesserae, which are arranged in classical-style check, meander, and wave patterns.

[35] The central bay includes cast-iron ceiling grilles, which originally concealed a skylight that abutted the second-story committee and trustees' rooms.

[30] Each of the grilles is made of cast iron and consists of a meander-patterned border, a central rosette, and a glazed panel that conceals a cast-iron grid.

Between the double-height columns are rectangular floor panels with red, yellow, and black tesserae arranged in an ornate pattern.

[34] At ground level, the western and southern walls contain aedicular windows, each of which is flanked by Ionic pilasters and is topped by an architrave and a triangular pediment.

[48][49] Many of lower Manhattan's savings banks were moving uptown during that time, as many of their depositors had started relocating northward.

[53] Architectural professor William Robert Ware reviewed all of the entries and recommended that the bank use McKim, Mead & White's design;[45] the details of the other four proposals are unknown.

[46] The houses on the western part of the site, along Grand and Elizabeth Streets, had been demolished by July 1893, and excavations for the foundation and cellar had commenced.

[42] According to a book about the Bowery Savings Bank, "Particular pride was taken in the enormous vaults, which were constructed with protective ingenuity beyond that applied to any similar storage facilities in the world.

[73] The building also hosted events in the mid-20th century, including meetings of the East Side Chamber of Commerce,[74] training programs for schoolchildren,[75] and art exhibitions.

[77][78] During this time, bank officials said they were "very pleased" with the Bowery branch, due to the growth in the number of Chinese depositors.

[84] Subsequently, Wu hired architect Anthony J. Moralishvili to design plans for converting the building into a catering hall.

Wu also negotiated with potential catering-hall operators, including Cipriani S.A.[83] Nightclub manager Margaret Millard announced in January 2002 that she wanted to turn the building into an event venue called Capitale, named as an allusion to the bank's history.

Millard had not yet formally leased the building from Wu, who supported the plans and had spent the previous year renovating the structure.

[88] Prior to the venue's opening, Greenberg said of the building's location on Bowery: "I think that the fact that we're here will make us sort of an anchor for other places to follow".

[27] The building also hosted events by performers Alicia Keys, Chris Rock, and Kanye West and the band Maroon 5.

In addition, after its conversion to an event venue, the building was used as a filming location for the TV series Gossip Girl, Gotham, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

[94][95] Paramount and Atelier considered marketing the building for sale without any tenants, but a spokesperson for Capitale contested this move, saying their lease did not expire until 2032.

[100] White's choice of a Roman classical style set a trend for bank buildings, first in New York, then across the United States.

[101] Fred Ferretti of the Times described the building as "a sort of fortress on the Bowery", denoting the eastern end of Manhattan's Little Italy neighborhood.

Mimi Sheraton of the Times said: "One can only imagine the awe with which these refugees from the slums of Naples and Canton and the shtetls of Poland and Russia entered this magnificent cathedral of a bank with its marble, brass and mosaics, to deposit small savings proudly.

"[104] Nick Paumgarten of The New Yorker characterized the interior in 2003 as having "nearly an acre of marble", with potted palm trees,[90] while Time Out magazine called the banking room the "most jaw-dropping venue for a meal" in New York City.