For a few years, the five-story, masonry Studio Building was the tallest building in downtown Berkeley until the Shattuck Hotel claimed this superlative in 1909. At the time, the Southern Pacific railroad tracks ran by the building where the northbound lanes of Shattuck Avenue run today. The Southern Pacific Station stood near today's Bart Station.

The building, designed by an unrecorded architect, was constructed by Frederick H. Dakin for his company which invested in gold mines

The building takes its name from the fifth floor which was designed as a studio for artists. Frederick H. Meyer founded the College of Arts and Crafts during a brief tenancy after the 1906 earthquake.