Wilshire Grand Tower

Wilshire Grand Center
Alternative names	Wilshire Grand Tower
Hotel chain	InterContinental
General information
Status	Under construction
Type	hotel, restaurants, retail, offices, and observatory
Architectural style	Metamodern
Location	900 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles, California
Coordinates	34°03′00″N 118°15′33″W / 34.0500°N 118.2593°W / 34.0500; -118.2593Coordinates: 34°03′00″N 118°15′33″W / 34.0500°N 118.2593°W / 34.0500; -118.2593
Construction started	2012
Completed	2017
Cost	US$1 billion
Owner	Hanjin Group
Management	Martin Project Management
Height
Architectural	335 m (1,100 ft)
Roof	284.8 m (934 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	73
Floor area	1,700,000 sq ft (160,000 m2)
Design and construction
Architect	AC Martin Partners
Developer	Thomas Properties Group, LLC
Structural engineer	Brandow & Johnston, Inc. Thornton Tomasetti
Main contractor	Turner Construction
Known for	First skyscraper in L.A. without a flat roof[1]
Other information
Number of rooms	900 (proposed)
Website
Wilshire Grand Center
References
[2][3][4]

Wilshire Grand Center is a 335-meter (1,100 ft) skyscraper under construction in the Financial District of Downtown Los Angeles, California. The tower will become the tallest building in Los Angeles and the tallest west of the Mississippi River upon completion. The building will be part of a mixed-use hotel, retail, observation decks, shopping malls and office complex, expected to revitalize downtown Los Angeles and the area surrounding the building.^[5] The development of the complex is estimated to cost $1 billion.^[6][7] The plans currently include 67,000 square feet (6,225 m²) of retail, 677,000 square feet (62,895 m²) of Class A office space and 900 hotel rooms. InterContinental is the tower's hotel component, comprising 900 rooms and suites occupying the 28th to the 68th floors

• Floors Basement to 6: Podium building with meeting rooms, ballroom, and retail.
• Floors 6 to 27: Office
• Floors 28 to 68: Hotel
• Floors 69 and 71: Restaurants
• Floors 70 and 72: Check in Lobby and Sky Bar
• Floor 73: Open air observation deck and rooftop pool.

History

Wilshire Grand Hotel, 2006

The original Wilshire Grand Hotel opened in 1952 as the Hotel Statler, on the site of the new Wilshire Grand. In 1950, the City of Los Angeles issued the largest single building permit at the time for the construction of the hotel, which cost over $15 million. The hotel quickly became a landmark of downtown Los Angeles, and over its 59-year lifespan attracted famous guests including President John F. Kennedy and Pope John Paul II.

In 1954, two years after its opening, Hilton Hotels & Resorts purchased the Statler Hotels chain, renaming the hotel the Statler Hilton. In 1968 Hilton completed a $2.5 million renovation of the hotel and renamed it the Los Angeles Hilton & Tower. Reliance Group later purchased the hotel in 1983 and invested $30 million in renovations. Korean Air purchased the Los Angeles Hilton from Reliance in 1989. They changed the hotel's management and it became the Omni Los Angeles Hotel in 1995 and then later the Wilshire Grand Hotel in 1999.^[8]

Wilshire Grand Hotel demolition, 2013

Seeking to revive the Wilshire Grand as a landmark and icon of Los Angeles, Korean Air conceived the idea of developing a new complex which would include the tallest building in Los Angeles, at 335 meters (1,100 ft). It is also part of an urban development effort to revitalize the Figueroa Street corridor of downtown Los Angeles as a vibrant light-and-sign district, similar to New York's Times Square. Deconstruction of the original building began on October 23, 2012 and continued for over a year until November 21, 2013 when a bottoming-out ceremony was held in the 106-foot pit (32 m) in which the tower will stand, officially ending the deconstruction of the former hotel.^[9][10]

Design

Originally envisioned as two towers, the taller of which would have been 380 metres (1,250 ft) tall, the complex is now planned to be a single 335-meter (1,100 ft), 77-story tower consisting of a mixed-use 900-room hotel, retail, observation deck and office space. The Los Angeles-based architectural firm, A.C. Martin Partners, is overseeing the project and prepared the current design. They took over from Thomas Properties who managed the early proposals but the owners became dissatisfied with their approach.^[11] A distinctive feature of the building includes its sail-shaped crown which will rise 1,100 feet (335 m) in the sky and be illuminated with LED lighting at night.^[12] The tower will spearhead part of a new planned light and sign district that will extend along the Figueroa Corridor down to L.A. Live. According to recent renderings, it is unclear however to what extent LED lighting and advertising will be applied.^[7] Lead designer David C. Martin said that the spire and the entire exterior skin of the tower will be filled with programmable LED lighting.^[13] The 1,100-foot (335 m) supertall is planned for a 2017 opening.

The skyscraper will also be a distinctive part of the Los Angeles skyline, as it will be the first to not feature a "flat roof" design, an integral part of buildings in Los Angeles today. The pattern of buildings in Los Angeles to feature these "flat roofs" were the result of a 1974 fire ordinance which required all tall buildings in the city to include rooftop helipads.^[14] The Wilshire Grand was granted an exception by the Los Angeles City Fire Department however, as the building will include advances in fire safety and building technology which would exceed the city's current fire code.^[15]

Construction

Turner Construction received the contracts for both the demolition of the former hotel and the construction of the new tower, the latter of which began on February 15, 2014 when 21,600 cubic yards (16,500 m³) of concrete was poured over the course of 20 hours, creating an 18-foot (5 m) thick foundation for what will be the tallest building west of the Mississippi.^[16]

On February 16, 2014, Guinness World Records announced that 21,200-cubic-yard of concrete (16,200 m³), or eighty-two million pounds (37,000,000 kg), was poured at the site the previous day, breaking a prior record of 21,000 cubic yards (16,000 m³) of concrete poured in one continuous pour.^[17] The previous record of 21,000 cubic yards was set during the construction of the Las Vegas hotel, The Venetian in 1999.^[18]

The foundation is set on bedrock known as the Fernando Formation; this siltstone has been compressed by an ocean that formerly covered the area and is a perfect base for a building.^[11]

See also

• Downtown Los Angeles
• List of tallest buildings in Los Angeles
• Figueroa Street
• Wilshire Boulevard

References

External links

• Wilshire Grand Center
• AC Martin Arch: Wilshire Grand Project
• http://graphics.latimes.com/wilshire-grand-skylight/