The U.S. Geological Survey, the largest tenant in the building, determined which public lands would be closed to development and conserved for their mineral and water resources.

Harold L. Ickes, Secretary of the Interior under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman, oversaw construction of dams, fully developed the National Park Service to provide recreational needs, and served as the first Federal Administrator of Public Works.

[2] The site was thought by some Congressional representatives to be a poor location for a major federal building due to its distance from Capitol Hill.

[2] The building was designed in an "E-shaped" configuration, creating open courtyards that provided maximum exposure to natural light and cooling breezes for all offices.

The facade was originally to have been built of brick, but substantial cost-savings measures undertaken during construction permitted the use of Indiana limestone for all of the building's exterior.

The entrance at the southern end of Eighteenth Street is sheltered by an iron and glass marquee overhanging the granite steps and part of a semi-circular driveway.

Distinguished decorative features in the Administrator's Suite include English oak floor-to-ceiling panels and a relief plaster ceiling.

Beyond this suite, other interior amenities included iced drinking water in the halls, washbasins in each office, and an auditorium, the first such space in a Federal building.