Cass Gilbert Gilbert was a conservative who believed architecture should reflect historic traditions and the established social order. His design of the new Supreme Court building (1935), with its classical lines and small size, contrasted sharply with the large federal buildings going up along the National Mall in Washington, D.C., which he disliked. Heilbrun says "Gilbert's pioneering buildings injected vitality into skyscraper design, and his 'Gothic skyscraper,' epitomized by the Woolworth Building, profoundly influenced architects during the first decades of the twentieth century." Christen and Flanders note that his reputation among architectural critics went into eclipse during the age of modernism, but
Lewis Cass Building of Lansing was engaged to design the building, and plans were approved in 1918. Construction began in 1919, but was not completed until 1921. The building served as the state office building until the completion of the first part of a new state government complex in 1953. In 1951, a major fire caused severe damage to the building. In the reconstruction, the seventh floor was removed, leaving the remaining six. The building is now a six-story U-shaped Classical Revival structure, a seventh story having been removed after a major fire in 1951. The building remains in use by the state.