all original and well-maintained late 19th century interior old colony building first floor lobby elevator chicago architectural single-sided cast bronze metal "coat of arms" medallion executed by the winslow brothers foundry, chicago, ills. interestingly, the circular-medallion is deliberately made to look aged or worn in the recessed area, contrasted with the egg & dart border, which is finely casted. the nicely aged medallion was originally affixed to a first floor elevator door in the building's lobby. the open cage elevators were removed long ago. the historically important extant chicago school old colony building was designed by the architectural firm of holabird and roche in 1893-1894. at seventeen stories, it was considered the tallest building in chicago when completed at height of 215 feet. free from masonry bearing walls, the massive steel skeleton that supports the exterior walls, consists of columns and girders designed by the firm of purdy and henderson and fabricated by phoenix mills. the firm introduced a system of bracing for this building, consisting of four tiers of steel arches reaching from the basement to the roof. each arch, extending from the floor to the ceiling, is firmly joined at the bottom with the portal or arch beneath it and at the ends to the phoenix columns by solid, hot-riveted connections. over 15,000 rivets were driven in the erection of the seventy steel arches that strengthen the structure. the exterior of the old colony building is divided into three divisions, consisting of the base, center and cornice. the first three stories were built using blue bedford indiana chiseled stone, with the remaining fourteen stories built of roman-shaped brick finished in a cream color smooth as tile. the ornamental "trimmings" were made with white glazed terra cotta possibly fabricated by the northwestern terra cotta company, chicago, ills. the old colony is bounded on three sides by regular thoroughfares with the main entrance located on van buren street, featuring an archway two stories in height and proportionately wide. this and the vestibule were paved with ceramic mosaic, and the walls and ceilings were originally finished in scagliola. the interior ceiling is divided into thirty-seven panels by richly moulded beams and connects with the walls by ornamental cornice. the three entrances are accentuated with facsimiles of carved limestone seals of the plymouth colony, known as the "old colony" where the building old colony takes its name. the building's interior is finished in italian marble, mosaic and tale, with all the wood work made of quarter-sawed oak. the hand-wrought and cast iron (material which the old florentine architects and artists delighted in) adorns entrances, stairways, and elevator cars/enclosures. the building's metalwork was fabricated by the winslow brothers with a bower-barff "rust-proof" finish. the very unique and highly experimental staircase ornament features unusual interlocking sinuous vines and leaves rived against a grid containing repeating circles. the building's interior (e.g., office, utility, and closet doors) ornamental hardware is comprised largely of brass, featuring monogrammed doorknobs (ocb) with surrounding laurel wreath. the backplates or escutcheons are largely unornamented, with elongated oval shape and beaded border. the office door hardware was fabricated by the yale & towne mfg. co., stamford, ct.