lacked interior partitions and therefore could not have any diagonal struts concealed in the walls. Instead, the superstructure columns contain strong braces where they intersect horizontal ceiling and floor beams. Because wide column spacing was necessitated on the lowest three floors, the fourth story was carried by two columns that carry ; these columns rested on two cross girders deep. Generally, each story contains a ceiling height of , but the ceilings on some stories are slightly higher. The superstructure is designed to withstand a wind pressure of on the exposed sides of the facade. The superstructure can carry a live load of , as well as a dead load of on its I-beams and on its columns. First through third stories The tower's lowest three floors were planned for the comfort and convenience of buyers visiting New York. These floors were modeled after a traditional large metropolitan private club and housed the International Buyers Club, which a brochure from the club described as containing "that mysterious element called 'atmosphere' and 'social standing'". Merchants and buyers from any accredited firm, domestic or foreign, could join for free. The floors were also designed to be "welcoming of women members"; at the time, salespersons were mostly men, but there were a growing number of saleswomen. It was intended as a refuge for buyers who wanted to take a break from the sales representatives on the upper stories, and solicitation was therefore prohibited on these floors. The club lasted only until about 1921, when it was converted into the Old Town Tavern, but the design remained in place over the following century. The first story had an information bureau, magazine and cigar counter, ticket office, and lounges and "retiring rooms" for both ladies and gentlemen. The second story contained a lounge at the front, overlooking the first story, and a large reading room at the rear, staffed with trained librarians. The library contained media from "commercial topics" such as advertising, banking, industrial administration, labor disputes, retail selling, and scientific management. The third story had offices and conference rooms, as well as an auditorium that could host lectures, concerts, the viewing of manufacturers' own promotional motion pictures, or "fashion parades" for "displaying gowns". With the construction of the annex, an auditorium was added at the ground story. Decorative features of the first through third stories included sculptural grotesques on some of the column capitals,