The skyscraper was designed by architects Daniel Burnham and Willis Polk in Beaux-Arts , and features a modern steel-frame skeleton and a facade of Tennessee granite and brick sheathing . It was designed to carry over many of the functions of its predecessors , while also serving in the capacity of a modern office building . It had a large meeting room ( serving today as a bank ) and an observation tower ( not in existence today ) . It was one of the tallest buildings in the city at the time of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
Merchants Exchange Building (San Francisco)