Royal Insurance Building (San Francisco)

The Royal Insurance Building features a distinctive, rounded corner entrance wrapped in cream-colored terracotta, with Ionic columns framing the Pine and Sansome street intersection. When the nineteen oh six earthquake struck, the building survived while the city burned around it. The heavy stone walls held firm, protecting the vital records locked inside. Willis Polk designed this structure to project absolute stability for an insurance firm, creating a fortress that refused to yield when the ground shook and the fires consumed the neighborhood.