This monumental building has a beautiful façade and long wings and is decorated with a colonnade of the Corinthian order. The architect highlighted its grandeur and monumentality with a massive entablement, a labradorite facing and four stone spheres near the entrance. The building dominates the Pechersk neighborhood and is perfectly seen from different corners of Kyiv but, despite its formidable size, does not "crush" the narrow street and looks very natural. 

It has been used for military and later political purposes for decades. When Ukraine declared independence in 1991, it became the Ukrainian president's office.