During a special meeting in 1888, William Deloitte put forward a motion to purchase the site at Moorgate Place on a 999 year lease at a ground rent of £900 per annum.

In the event, the terms of the lease were altered to £472 for twenty years increasing to £786 thereafter, in return for part of the site being given up to expand Great Swan Alley.

Under the stone were placed current issues of The Times and The Accountant, a copy of the Institute's Charter and Bye-Laws, a list of members, and examples of the copper and silver (though not gold) coins of the day.

LED panels placed behind the glass illuminate it, with the rear surface of the windows being coated with a soft, organic texture to diffuse the lighting.

Beleschenko has written an 'Artist's view' of his creative process for the Architects' Journal, describing the artwork as "a combination of realism and abstraction", inspired by details in the decoration seen elsewhere in the building.

[12] For example, the coloured shapes are inspired by stained-glass windows located upstairs, while the grid backdrop references the building’s black and white floor patterns.

[15] The council chamber (now the reception room) has a high domed ceiling and elaborate wall-paintings by George Murray to Belcher's designs, representing the Triumph of the Law and Science bringing Order to Commerce.

[16] Thornycroft's frieze depicts groups of figures representing Arts, Sciences, Crafts, Education, Commerce, Manufacture, Agriculture, Mining, Railways, Shipping, India, the Colonies, and Building.

These depict Egyptians and the foundation of accounting, 19th-century men as the founding fathers of ICAEW, and four Renaissance figures including Luca Pacioli, the first person to publish a work on double-entry bookkeeping.

[25] ICAEW possesses numerous antique furnishings and works of art gifted by individuals or accountancy bodies, including several given to celebrate the centenary in 1980.

A set of three tapestries by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi have been moved from the Great Hall to a new location on the Copthall Avenue stairway, leading down from the ground floor to the members' club.

The three highly distinctive pieces, which represent present day and future societies in relation to the role played by ICAEW, were commissioned in 1980 as part of the Institute's centenary celebrations.

[28] In addition to functioning as ICAEW's administrative headquarters, Chartered Accountants' Hall offers business and social facilities to its members and the general public.