This sober skyscraper is the largest work by Willis, who came to San Antonio in 1911 after working as chief draftsman in Frank Lloyd Wright's studio. After four years with Atlee B. Ayres, he started his own practice. Here Willis's design is conventional eclecticism: the building's U-shaped massing and stripped down Gothic detailing contain no hint of Wrightian influence. At sixteen stories, this was, when built, the tallest reinforced-concrete building in the world, the first office building in the United States to be equipped with central air-conditioning, and for a short time, the tallest building in San Antonio.