
One of the largest nongovernmental buildings in the city, the Daon Building is one of its earliest Postmodern buildings. Its massive form bends around an awkward corner formed by New York Avenue and H Street. Its twelve stories are divided into a three-story limestone and granite base, a colonnaded midsection of buff precast concrete, and a robust cornice over an attic. Slim infill bands and intersecting “pilasters” of tan glazed brick set off buff concrete window surrounds. A monumental center arch opens to a lobby entrance and leads to an inner atrium faced in white and colored marble. The large interior court is lined with stepped balconies and a towering waterfall. Today, the building houses the Inter-American Development Bank.