The Detroit-based architectural firm Field, Hinchman & Smith designed the Piquette Avenue Plant. It is an example of late Victorian-style architecture and was modeled after New England textile mills. Designing factories based on this type of mill was common practice in the United States at the time. The building is three stories high, wide, and long. Its load-bearing exterior brick walls contain 355 windows, and its maple floors, supported by square oak beams and posts, cover . The Piquette Avenue Plant contains two elevator-stairwell combinations, one located on its northwest corner and the other located on its southwest side. Recalling a fire in March 1901 that destroyed the Olds Motor Works factory in Detroit, Henry Ford and the architects included a fire sprinkler system in the building's design, a rare feature for industrial buildings of the period. This and several other original safety features in the factory, such as its firewalls, fire doors, and fire escapes, are still present. Water for the sprinkler system was supplied by a wooden water tank located on the building's roof. A brick powerhouse, measuring wide by long, was the original electricity provider for the factory, and was located near its northwest corner. The water tank and powerhouse no longer exist.
