The roughly cube-shaped massing of the building is distinguished by the honeycomb structure of its concrete brise soleil, inspired by Polynesian culture and also intended to resemble the punched cards used in the computer industry at the time of its construction.

Public backlash led to its preservation after the planned development area was purchased by Howard Hughes Corporation, which expressed an intent to maintain the IBM Building's name and general appearance.

It noted that planning would be completed after an architect and IBM representatives arrived from the contiguous United States, and that construction was scheduled to finish in March 1961.

[2] The IBM Building was designed by architect Vladimir Ossipoff and built by contractor Hawaiian Dredging & Construction Company for Victoria Ward Limited.

[4] Construction of the IBM Building, which began by July 1961, was the first part of a master plan for eastern Kakaʻako that Harland Bartholomew and Associates created for Victoria Ward Limited.

[5] In October 1961, a 20-year-old construction worker fell from the fifth floor of the building while moving a sawhorse from one scaffold to another and landed on a pile of lumber; he survived, but broke several bones in the fall.

Then-Governor of Hawaii William F. Quinn attended and spoke at the event, characterizing the building as "a gratifying demonstration of one company's success in years past and faith in the future of the mid-Pacific area".

[12] Its simple design gained various accolades in the architectural community, including a 1964 honorable mention from the Hawaii chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

In October 2011, Howard Hughes announced a revised master plan for the area; by February 2012, the corporation expressed an intent to maintain the IBM Building's name and general appearance.

[3] In 2018, Howard Hughes Corporation announced plans to move remote workers into the building and notified tenants on the fourth floor that they would be taking it over when leases expired at the end of that year.

This facade, which was assembled from 1,360 precast pieces of concrete, intended to resemble the punched cards which were used in the computer industry at the time of the building's construction.

[9] In 2008, architect and Yale University Director of Exhibitions Dean Sakamoto described the building as a Honolulu landmark and a marker of the passing of time, comparing it to Aloha Tower and the Hawaii Convention Center.