In response to the owner's wishes for a sedate, formal and imposing headquarters in the Chicago manner, this building is derived from both the construction method and the expression of that method, which made these buildings the most distinguished examples of early 20th century architecture.

The Leo Burnett Headquarters has a perimeter tube of steel columns on fifteen-foot centers, with a poured concrete service core and trusses supporting the floors. It is clad in stone, with deep recesses for the windows; however, the thinness of the stone cladding is dramatized by using a polished stainless steel reflecting surface for the jamb, sill and head of the recess. This makes the statement that it is not a masonry building; it is a steel building, with a thin veneer of stone.

From the inside looking out, the polished steel acts as a mirror on either side of the window, reflecting the surrounding views. The cornice levels of the street wall of Wacker Drive are adopted to establish the entry colonnade, the middle-level mechanical rooms, and the double-scale colonnade at the roof cornice enclosing the upper mechanical equipment. The projecting corners, which provide additional executive office locations, visually strengthen the form and increase its sense of height and elegance.