Constructed in the late 1950s, it was the first significant structure erected in downtown San Francisco in the thirty years following the start of the Great Depression. It was the first International Style building in San Francisco and one of the first such buildings in the U.S., being completed shortly after the Lever House and the Seagram Building, both in New York City. It was not, however, the first building in San Francisco to feature a glass curtain wall, that designation belonging to the Hallidie Building,[11] two blocks to the west.
One Bush Plaza was controversial due to the decision for it to face Bush Street instead of Market Street, the latter being in decline at the time of the building's construction. The building is notable for taking up an entire city block and being freestanding. It directly faces an Art Deco skyscraper, the Shell Building.
