Lafayette Building

Lafayette Building, also known as Export-Import Bank Building, is a building in Washington, D.C.. Completed in 1940, it was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2005. In 1938, the Lafayette Building Corporation was established with the purpose of constructing a building at Lafayette and Fifteenth streets in Washington, D.C. The corporation intended to privately develop the building that would then be leased to the federal government, making this an unusual speculative venture. The group retained the Chicago architectural firm Holabird & Root to design the building, which included some of the first uses of underground parking and central air-conditioning in the city. Holabird & Root invited a former employee, Washington architect...