Originally built from 1923 to 1927 as the headquarters for New York Telephone, the Barclay-Vesey Building was significantly damaged when the fourth structure in the World Trade Center complex -- Building Seven -- collapsed. When Seven World Trade Center fell, steel girders from the building hit the ground with such incredible force that they penetrated several feet into the pavement. And as a result of the tremendous impact of the collapse and resulting debris, two of the facades at the Barclay-Vesey Building were brutally affected. The face of the brick-and-limestone building had substantial holes that peered out onto the destruction of the World Trade Center complex, and much of the carved limestone was shattered well beyond repair.
The 32-story building had been designed by McKenzie Voorhees & Gmelin Architects as the first Art Deco skyscraper, with a height of nearly 500 feet. At the time of its opening, its designers were awarded the Architectural League of New York's gold medal of honor in 1927 for "fine expression of the new industrial age." It was named the Barclay-Vesey Building after the streets to its north and south.