Transamerica Pyramid
Encyclopedia
The Transamerica Pyramid is the tallest skyscraper
in the San Francisco skyline
and one of its most iconic. Although the building no longer houses the headquarters
of the Transamerica Corporation
, it is still strongly associated with the company and is depicted in the company's logo. Designed by architect William Pereira
and built by Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Company, at 260 m (853 ft), upon completion in 1972 it was among the five tallest buildings in the world.
The tower has no public access except for the first floor lobby, so visitors can't reach the top for a panoramic view.
, with the claim that he wished to allow natural light and fresh air to filter down to the street below. Built on the location of the historic Montgomery Block
, it has a structural height of 260 m (853 ft) and contains 48 floors
of retail
and office
space. Construction began in 1969 and finished in 1972, and was overseen by San Francisco-based contractor Dinwiddie Construction (now Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Company). Transamerica moved its headquarters to the new building from across the street, where it used to be based in another flatiron-shaped building now occupied by the Church of Scientology
of San Francisco.
Although the tower no longer serves as the Transamerica Corporation
headquarters
, it is still strongly associated with the company and is depicted in the company's logo. The building is evocative of San Francisco and has become one of the many symbols of the city. Designed by architect William Pereira
, it faced considerable opposition during its planning and construction, and was sometimes referred to by detractors as "Pereira's Prick".
The Transamerica Pyramid was the tallest skyscraper west of the Mississippi
from 1972 to 1974 surpassing the then Bank of America Center. It was then later surpassed by the Aon Center
in Los Angeles
.
The building is considered to have been the intended target of a foiled terrorist attack, involving the hijacking of airplanes as part of the Bojinka plot, which was foiled in 1995.
In 1999, Transamerica was acquired by Dutch
insurance company AEGON
. When the non-insurance operations of Transamerica were later sold to GE Capital
, AEGON retained the building as an investment.
The building is a tall, four-sided pyramid
with two "wings" on either side to accommodate an elevator shaft on the east and a stairwell and a smoke tower on the west. The top 64.6 m (211.9 ft) of the building is the spire
. There are four camera
s pointed in the four cardinal direction
s at the top of this spire forming a virtual observation deck. Four monitors in the lobby
, whose direction and zoom can be controlled by visitors, display the cameras' views 24 hours a day. An observation deck on the 27th floor was closed after the September 11, 2001 attacks
, and replaced by the virtual observation deck. The top of the Transamerica Pyramid is covered with aluminum panels. During the holiday season of Thanksgiving
, and Independence Day
, a bright, white light is seen on top of the pyramid.
The building was built on a special base platform that allows it to reduce shaking from earthquake
s. While it gradually reduces shaking, some shaking still intrudes the building.
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
in the San Francisco skyline
Skyline
A skyline is the overall or partial view of a city's tall buildings and structures consisting of many skyscrapers in front of the sky in the background. It can also be described as the artificial horizon that a city's overall structure creates. Skylines serve as a kind of fingerprint of a city, as...
and one of its most iconic. Although the building no longer houses the headquarters
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
of the Transamerica Corporation
Transamerica Corporation
Transamerica Corporation is a holding company for various life insurance companies and investment firms doing business primarily in the United States. It was acquired by the Dutch financial services conglomerate AEGON in 1999.-History:...
, it is still strongly associated with the company and is depicted in the company's logo. Designed by architect William Pereira
William Pereira
William Leonard Pereira was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois, of Portuguese ancestry who was noted for his futuristic designs of landmark buildings such as the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco...
and built by Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Company, at 260 m (853 ft), upon completion in 1972 it was among the five tallest buildings in the world.
The tower has no public access except for the first floor lobby, so visitors can't reach the top for a panoramic view.
History
The Transamerica building was commissioned by Transamerica CEO John (Jack) R. BeckettJohn R. (Jack) Beckett
John R. Beckett , an American businessman, president and chairman of the board of Transamerica Corp. from 1960 to 1983. He was born on February 26, 1918 in San Francisco, California, and died on June 17, 2010 in Atherton, California....
, with the claim that he wished to allow natural light and fresh air to filter down to the street below. Built on the location of the historic Montgomery Block
Montgomery Block
The Montgomery Block was San Francisco's first fireproof and earthquake resistant building. It was located at 628 Montgomery Street, on the south-east corner of the intersection of Montgomery and Washington streets....
, it has a structural height of 260 m (853 ft) and contains 48 floors
Storey
A storey or story is any level part of a building that could be used by people...
of retail
Retail
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
and office
Office
An office is generally a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty. When used as an adjective, the...
space. Construction began in 1969 and finished in 1972, and was overseen by San Francisco-based contractor Dinwiddie Construction (now Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Company). Transamerica moved its headquarters to the new building from across the street, where it used to be based in another flatiron-shaped building now occupied by the Church of Scientology
Church of Scientology
The Church of Scientology is an organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall ecclesiastical management, dissemination and...
of San Francisco.
Although the tower no longer serves as the Transamerica Corporation
Transamerica Corporation
Transamerica Corporation is a holding company for various life insurance companies and investment firms doing business primarily in the United States. It was acquired by the Dutch financial services conglomerate AEGON in 1999.-History:...
headquarters
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
, it is still strongly associated with the company and is depicted in the company's logo. The building is evocative of San Francisco and has become one of the many symbols of the city. Designed by architect William Pereira
William Pereira
William Leonard Pereira was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois, of Portuguese ancestry who was noted for his futuristic designs of landmark buildings such as the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco...
, it faced considerable opposition during its planning and construction, and was sometimes referred to by detractors as "Pereira's Prick".
The Transamerica Pyramid was the tallest skyscraper west of the Mississippi
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
from 1972 to 1974 surpassing the then Bank of America Center. It was then later surpassed by the Aon Center
Aon Center (Los Angeles)
Aon Center is a 62-story, Modernist office skyscraper located at 707 Wilshire Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles, California. Designed by Charles Luckman, and completed in 1973, the rectangular black building with white trim is remarkably slender for a skyscraper in a seismically active area. It is...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
The building is considered to have been the intended target of a foiled terrorist attack, involving the hijacking of airplanes as part of the Bojinka plot, which was foiled in 1995.
In 1999, Transamerica was acquired by Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
insurance company AEGON
AEGON
Aegon N.V. is one of the world’s largest life insurance and pension groups, and a strong provider of investment products. Aegon's head office is in The Hague, Netherlands...
. When the non-insurance operations of Transamerica were later sold to GE Capital
GE Capital
GE Capital is the financial services unit of General Electric, one of five major units. Its various divisions include GE Capital Aviation Services, GE Capital Real Estate, GE Energy Financial Services and GE Money....
, AEGON retained the building as an investment.
Design
The land use and zoning restrictions for the parcel limited the number of square feet of office that could be built upon the lot, which sits at the northern boundary of the financial district. This building was built under the 'Building Codes' to be Earthquake safe.The building is a tall, four-sided pyramid
Pyramid
A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...
with two "wings" on either side to accommodate an elevator shaft on the east and a stairwell and a smoke tower on the west. The top 64.6 m (211.9 ft) of the building is the spire
Spire
A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....
. There are four camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
s pointed in the four cardinal direction
Cardinal direction
The four cardinal directions or cardinal points are the directions of north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials: N, E, S, W. East and west are at right angles to north and south, with east being in the direction of rotation and west being directly opposite. Intermediate...
s at the top of this spire forming a virtual observation deck. Four monitors in the lobby
Lobby (room)
A lobby is a room in a building which is used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer or an entrance hall.Many office buildings, hotels and skyscrapers go to great lengths to decorate their lobbies to create the right impression....
, whose direction and zoom can be controlled by visitors, display the cameras' views 24 hours a day. An observation deck on the 27th floor was closed after the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, and replaced by the virtual observation deck. The top of the Transamerica Pyramid is covered with aluminum panels. During the holiday season of Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
, and Independence Day
Independence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
, a bright, white light is seen on top of the pyramid.
The building was built on a special base platform that allows it to reduce shaking from earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
s. While it gradually reduces shaking, some shaking still intrudes the building.
Specifications
- The building's façade is covered in crushed quartzQuartzQuartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
, giving the building its pure white color. - The four-story base of the building contains a total of 16000 cu yd (12,232.9 m³) of concreteConcreteConcrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
and over 300 mi (482.8 km) of steel rebarRebarA rebar , also known as reinforcing steel, reinforcement steel, rerod, or a deformed bar, is a common steel bar, and is commonly used as a tensioning device in reinforced concrete and reinforced masonry structures holding the concrete in compression...
. - It has 3,678 windows.
- The building's foundation is 9 feet (2.7 m) thick and was the result of a 24-hour continuous concrete pour.
- Only two of the building's 18 elevators reach the top floor.
- The original proposal called for a 1150 ft (350.5 m) building, which would have been for one year the second-tallest completed building in the world. The proposal was rejected by the city planning commission on the grounds that it would have interfered with views of San Francisco BaySan Francisco BaySan Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
from Nob HillNob Hill, San Francisco, CaliforniaNob Hill refers to a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, centered on the intersection of California and Powell streets. It is one of San Francisco's 44 hills, and one of its original "Seven Hills."-Location :...
. - The building occupies the site that was the temporary home of A.P. Giannini's Bank of ItalyBank of Italy (USA)The Bank of Italy was founded in San Francisco, California, USA, in 1904 by Amadeo Giannini. It grew by a branch banking strategy to become the Bank of America, the world's largest commercial bank with 493 branches in California and assets of $5 billion in 1945....
after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake1906 San Francisco earthquakeThe San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco, California, and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude of 7.9; however, other...
destroyed its office. Giannini founded Transamerica in 1928 as a holding company for his financial empire. Bank of Italy later became Bank of AmericaBank of AmericaBank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...
. - There is a plaque commemorating two famous dogs, Bummer and LazarusBummer and LazarusBummer and Lazarus were two stray dogs that roamed the streets of San Francisco, California, USA, in the early 1860s. Recognized for their unique bond and their prodigious rat-killing ability, they became a fixture of city newspapers, were exempted from local ordinances and immortalized in...
, at the base of the building. - The hull of the whaling vessel NianticNiantic (whaling vessel)Niantic was a whaleship that brought fortune-seekers to Yerba Buena later renamed San Francisco during the California Gold Rush of 1849. Run aground and converted into a storeship and hotel, she was a prominent landmark in the booming city for several years. The site of Niantic beside the...
, an artifact of the 1849 California Gold RushCalifornia Gold RushThe California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
, lay almost exactly beneath the Transamerica Pyramid, and the location is marked by a historical plaque outside the building (California Historical Landmark #88). - The aluminum cap is indirectly illuminated from within to balance the appearance at night.
- The two vertical external extensions allow preservation of useful interior space at the upper levels. One extension is the top of elevator shafts while the other is a smoke evacuation tower for fire-fighting.
- A glass pyramid cap sits at the top and encloses both aircraft warning lightAircraft warning lightsAircraft warning lights are high-intensity lighting devices that are attached to tall structures and are used as collision avoidance measures. Such devices make structures more visible to passing aircraft and are usually used at night, although they may be used during the day as well...
and a seasonal white beacon. - At certain times of the year the glass cap will briefly cast a reflected sunlight gleam onto traffic crossing the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge
See also
- San Francisco's tallest buildings
- 49-Mile Scenic Drive49-Mile Scenic DriveThe 49-Mile Scenic Drive in San Francisco highlights many of the city's major attractions and historic structures.Opened on September 14, 1938 as a promotion for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, it...
External links
- The Pyramid Center official website
- About the Pyramid - Transamerica CorporationTransamerica CorporationTransamerica Corporation is a holding company for various life insurance companies and investment firms doing business primarily in the United States. It was acquired by the Dutch financial services conglomerate AEGON in 1999.-History:...
- Transamerica Pyramid at PropertyShark