Before you stand the mighty Transamerica Pyramid; the tallest and most recognizable skyscraper
in the San Francisco skyline.
The building was constructed to be the new headquarters for Transamerica Corp; a large
US-based insurance company.
The history of this mighty building dates back to the late 60ies, when the decision
to construct a new headquarter was taken.
The company president at the time, John Beckett, had his own vision on the building design.
He noticed how the trees in the park, unlike the surrounding, box-like buildings, allowed
natural light to filter down to the streets below.
He wanted the same thing to be true for the new headquarters, which was one of the main
reasons why the building got its spectacular pyramid design.
The Transamerica Pyramid was designed by the architect William Pereira.
Located on the historic Montgomery Block, the construction of the building began in
1969 and finished later in 1972.
During the planning and construction phase, many opposed the unconventional design.
Most people claimed that the pyramid shape would not fit the city.
However, once finished it became an appreciated and iconic San Francisco landmark.
At the time of its completion, it was the tallest building in the United States west
of the Mississippi River.
Even though it today has lost that status, it still remains one of the very tallest buildings
in California.
The building has a structural height of 260 meters, divided on 48 floors of retail and
office space.
The architect William Pereira claimed to have created the ideal shape for skyscrapers, as
it came with the advantage of letting more air and light into the surrounding streets.
This, together with the earthquake safe design, also allowed the building to get around strict
building laws which enabled it be much taller than if it had a more normal design.
However, the pyramid shape also has limitations.
The upper level floors of the building get smaller and smaller due to its shape.
The fact that there is a fixed space needed for elevators and emergency stairs limited
the office space even further.
In order to free up some space, Pereira designed the two wings you can see on either side of
the pyramid.
These wings contain elevators, staircases and other utility facilities.
However, this still didn't prevent the pyramid from being inefficient from an economic perspective.
The largest floor at the base covers more than 21,000 square-feet while the top floor
covers a mere 2,000 square-feet.
This is the main reason why this building is so unique and why we rarely see other pyramid
shaped skyscrapers.
The top of the building is covered in aluminum panels which can be illuminated from within
during night.
The rest of the Transamerica Pyramid is covered in layers of crushed quartz which gives it
its pure white color.
The pyramid can boast with some impressive numbers.
Only the base of the buildings contains more than 12.000 cubic-meters of concrete and over
480 kilometers of steel rebar.
The pyramid has a total of 3678 windows which together takes more than one month to clean.
The building houses 18 elevators, but in order to conserve space, only two of these lead
all the way up to the top.
The building of today houses several high profile firms and provides office for around
1500 people.
Even though the building it is not exclusively used by the Transamerica Corporation, it is
still strongly associated with the company.
They even incorporated the pyramid into their logo and the company slogan.
Thought the building was somewhat criticized during its construction, it has today become
one of the main symbols of the city.
The Transamerica Pyramid dominates the San Francisco skyline, while at the same time
achieving its objective by bringing life to the streets below.
It is truly one of its kind and a great piece of architecture.