The south half preserves the lines and color of the older building, but is vertically divided by a stringcourse over the second story, emphasizing the building's base, and a large ornamental copper cornice at the roof line. Massive blocks of red granite, thick, frame the large, two-story entrances. The projecting window bays of the original are repeated, but alternate in a pattern of two four-window bays to one recessed strip of windows to create the undulating appearance of the facade that was an early trademark of Holabird & Roche. Carl Condit, historian of the Chicago school, has commented that: