Dakin was in a large upswing of sales and profits in the late 1980s fueled by success of its Garfield character licenses, and needed to accommodate its burgeoning staff of artists and designers.

In a financial and sales tailspin, the R. Dakin Company proceeded to sell this headquarters building to C. Michael Hogan, president of Earth Metrics Inc., an environmental research and consulting firm.

[8] During the Glasnost period, the Dakin building was a primary location central to development of relationships between Russians (then Soviet citizens) and Americans.

As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle:[9] "During the late 1980s, as glasnost and perestroika led to the liquidation of the Soviet empire, the Dakin building was the location for a series of groups facilitating United States-Russian contacts.

The Dakin Building is close to the Sierra Point Marina and lies about 4 miles (6.4 km) north of San Francisco International Airport.

However, the subsidence undermined the safety of the ramps causing structural damage to the concrete and opening up small crevice-like cracks in its connective fabric.

The building was designed by the well-known architectural firm Munselle Brown Partnership Inc. of San Francisco (now Costa Brown Architecture),[12] who were selected after winning an invited design competition, and Architects of Record DES Architects + Engineers, Inc. as a Class A office building.

The exterior features a skin that is an innovative all-porcelain panel design, giving the building a shimmering appearance in the sunlight or uplights by night; moreover, most of the fenestration was slanted approximately 45 degrees from vertical, designed to reduce glare and enhance energy conservation, but also lending a futuristic effect.

[19] At a subsequent special public meeting, Theodore Brown, the original architect, shared his vision for the building and suggested alternatives to the proposed redesign, but the Council affirmed the Planning Commission's decision 3–2.

[21] Due to its proximity to landfill, the Dakin relies on specially engineered recovery systems below its basements to actively capture fugitive methane off-gas and vent it away from the building.

Other major interior elements are a state-of-the-art auditorium and a large computer room capable of supporting a national corporation data center, both built by C. Michael Hogan, the second owner.

These pieces were used to grace the interior of the Dakin Building, and were hung in literally all public areas, conference rooms, hallways and the atrium.

The San Francisco Chronicle stated "Aesthetically [the Darth Vader building] is no match for Luke Skywalker's happy white palace just a few hundred feet away, which has been an instant popular success.

They show the choice between prepackaged architecture, in which individuals or even businesses are regarded as interchangeable, and a custom built home for a family controlled company that has been in the Bay Area for years.

[28] The American Institute of Architects 1990 article states that one of the bases for the international recognition is: "The two north facing atrium walls are faced entirely in glass... Due to the expanse of glass, the projecting atrium gives the impression of a greenhouse, creating the effect of extending the interior to an adjacent park and to the bay beyond".

The Quaternario judges focused on the technological aspects of the fenestration design where window angles were calculated to minimize interior glare and reduce interior over-illumination, while at the same time reducing solar heat loading and subsequent demand for air conditioning as energy conservation techniques.

The angled window projections effectively provide permanent sunscreens, obviating any need for interior blinds or shades.