The building is designed to act like a bridge over the sewer and tunnel, balancing on a few strategically placed columns.

[2][4] The second through sixth floors of the building are clad in precast concrete panels finished with a thin granite veneer, each of which contains two large windows.

The first floor is open space, broken up by the main support columns and three building "cores" which contain elevators and other essential infrastructure.

[4] The interior walls were prefabricated to contain electrical wiring, HVAC, and plumbing, and other essential infrastructure.

[2] In 1974, Congress passed legislation authorizing a major piece of public art to be placed at the south entrance to the Humphrey Building.

[5] In 1977, James Rosati's Heroic Shore Points I, a cubic aluminum piece painted bright red, was dedicated and emplaced.

[2] Congress threatened to take over the building and use it for office space for the United States House of Representatives, but instead opted to raze a block of restored 19th century homes on New Jersey Avenue SW.[1] In April 1977, as the Humphrey Building neared completion, one of the welds connecting the hanging interior walls to the roof truss cracked.

In April 2014, the General Services Administration said it would spend $6.74 million to renovate the Humphrey Building into open workspace.