Designed by architects William Field and Son and constructed between 1872 and 1873, it is the city's oldest remaining concrete building.

It is the last remaining structure of a five-acre concrete factory complex built for the Coignet Agglomerate Company along the Gowanus Canal.

After Whole Foods Market bought the surrounding factory complex in 2005, the building became a New York City designated landmark on June 27, 2006.

[5] The building itself was constructed from 1872 to 1873 and designed by William Field and Son for the New York and Long Island Coignet Stone Company.

[11] Many of the building's innovations were introduced by Coignet Agglomerate Company vice president John C. Goodridge Jr., and the materials were sourced directly from the stoneworks.

The basement is made of a continuous concrete structure and is wider than the upper stories to reduce settlement into the ground.

[14] According to an 1874 rendering, a low fence was to surround the lot, while the parapet was to be designed with carved urns and letters, but whether these features were built is not known.

On both Third Avenue and Third Street, the center bay contains a stoop with curved sidewalls, leading up to an entrance underneath an Ionic-style portico.

[18] According to The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, in the year after the factory's completion (July 1872 to July 1873), the basin received forty deliveries of sand, 2,500 short tons (2,200 long tons; 2,300 t) in "sundry materials", and 8,800 barrels of Portland cement, and the basin shipped 765 stone pieces.

[21] Its officers, which included General Quincy Adams Gillmore, R. O. Glover, and John C. Goodridge Jr., went to France to observe stone manufacturing processes.

The original factory was at Smith and Hamilton Streets in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, and produced artificial stones for facades, decoration, and building blocks.

[22] The Eagle reported in June 1872 that the nearly-complete factory covered 1 acre (0.40 ha), could employ 100 workers, and had enough resources to construct ten houses' facades each day.

[22][24] To advertise its business, the Coignet Agglomerate Company hosted an exhibit that October at an industrial fair sponsored by the city of Brooklyn.

[10] At that point, the Coignet Agglomerate Company was conducting large amounts of business for churches and houses in Brooklyn and elsewhere.

[20][28] At its peak, the company was commissioned for several large projects, including the St. Patrick's Cathedral's arches and the Western Union Telegraph Building's floor slabs in Manhattan.

In their respective writings about the history of concrete, historians Carl Condit and Theodore H. M. Prudon mentioned the Coignet Agglomerate Company but not its building.

[19] Architectural writer Lewis Mumford, speaking of the structure in 1952, said the Brooklyn Improvement Company office stood "in ironic solitude – or should we say hopeful anticipation".

[19][35] Joseph K. Lane, who documented the Brooklyn Improvement Company's history, was the sole 20th-century commentator to recognize the building's significance, but even he recorded an inaccurate date in his writing.

[38] The grocery chain Whole Foods Market bought the surrounding structures for $4,945,200 in 2005, in a deal in which it agreed to renovate the Coignet Building at an estimated cost of $1.3 million.

[12][29] Whole Foods agreed to buy the land surrounding the Coignet Building, but Kowalski would not sell the physical structure.

[39][40] That year, the building's owner and Whole Foods made an agreement that restricted the possible usage of the landmark to certain commercial uses, namely offices, an auto supply shop, or an art gallery.

[50][51] During mid-2013, Whole Foods submitted plans to the New York City Department of Buildings to install new windows and doors, which the agency initially rejected.

[52][53] The month of the store's opening, the city government fined Whole Foods $3,000 for not having restored the Coignet Building on time.

[56] During the renovation, the faux-stucco facade was removed, and a contractor repaired and rebuilt damaged portions of the historic cast stone.

[38][62][63] In September 2023, the building received a coat of white limewash, covering up the recently-restored cast stone, and was on the market for $2.7 million.