The Transamerica Pyramid is a defining
symbol of San Francisco and one of the world’s most recognisable buildings.
But it’s not always been held in such esteem - and the building had to battle
intense opposition and overcome some extreme engineering challenges to become reality,
before steadily earning its place in the city’s heart.
While engineered to withstand the strongest Californian earthquakes,
some of the tower’s biggest struggles have in fact been with public opinion.
This is how the battle to build the Transamerica Pyramid was won.
In 1968, Jack Beckett was CEO of the Transamerica Corporation.
With the then-diversified conglomerate thriving,
he looked to build an iconic headquarter tower on a site in downtown San Francisco.
Originally set to stand 350 metres tall, the Transamerica Pyramid would have been
the second tallest building in the world at the time, eclipsed only by the Empire State.
But conscious of the dark skyscraper canyons that had emerged in New York,
architect William Pereira carefully designed a tapering skyscraper that would maximise light at
street level - a striking pyramid that would put the Transamerica Corporation on the map
while becoming an eye-catching and welcome addition to city’s skyline
at a time of major cultural change in the US.
But despite the considered plans and strong support from San Francisco’s mayor,
the designs were instantly met with hostility from the media, public and local officials.
The unexpected backlash saw many newspapers criticise the building’s futuristic design
as something you’d expect to see in Las Vegas and fears over the building’s height leading
to the “Manhattanisation” of the city triggered protests at Transamerica’s then-headquarters.
In the face of such vehement opposition, plans for the pyramid were rejected.
Revisiting their design in the wake of the decision, the project team reduced the height
of the skyscraper to 260-metres - lowering its impact and preventing it from blocking views from
the prestigious Nob Hill neighbourhood, which had been cited as a key issue.
Despite widespread public contempt, the Transamerica Pyramid was subsequently approved
and Beckett’s headquarter building was cleared
for construction - in a city that resented its existence.
If getting the Transamerica Pyramid approved had been complex,
building it was going to be a whole different ball game.
As one of the most seismically active regions of the US, California has some of the most
stringent building codes anywhere in the world and
San Francisco’s focus on them is born out of harrowing first-hand experience.
While a pyramid form is already a highly stable structure in itself,
the Transamerica Pyramid is engineered with layer upon layer of seismic defences.
To construct this advanced building, the team first excavated the site
and undertook a lengthy continuous concrete pour to build its foundation. 12,000 cubic metres
of concrete and 480 kilometres of steel rebar later, the 2.7-metre thick base was complete.
From there, they established the skyscraper’s main structural support in the event of an earthquake;
the four-storey steel and concrete truss webbing that wraps around the base of the building
and extends some 15.5 metres below ground.
Rising from this formidable foundation, the building’s exterior framework is reinforced
with additional interior frames that rise to the 17th and 45th floors
providing resistance to torsional movements.
As the skyscraper began to take its place on the skyline,
its two distinctive “wings” steadily emerged from the 29th floor.
Providing both form and function, these extrusions actually help to make the building’s height
economically viable. With its pyramid design creating a floor-plate that reduces in area
the higher you go, these fins carry elevators, stairways and services to
the top of the structure while keeping them out of the lettable floor space.
Clad in white precast quartz window frames, the pyramid was topped with a 65-metre
illuminated spire and capped with a beacon known as the “crown jewel”.
When it completed in 1972, the Transamerica Pyramid became the tallest building in the
United States west of Chicago and a landmark structure on San Francisco’s skyline.
The building quickly found itself synonymous with the city - appearing throughout popular
culture on everything from postcards to movie screens.
It was this national and international popularity that steadily mellowed
citizen’s views of the skyscraper - and in time,
put it alongside the Golden Gate Bridge as one of the city’s most loved icons.
In 1989, 17 years after construction, the pyramid’s advanced engineering
was dramatically tested when a 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck the city.
Despite shaking the building for more than a minute and the top floor swaying almost a foot (or
30 centimetres) from side-to-side, no structural damage or serious injuries were reported.
Other threats to the building have since been averted,
including the closing of it’s observation deck in 2001.
The public platform was replaced with a series of cameras that now offer virtual views.
Unwelcome when it was first proposed,
Jack Beckett’s vision for Transamerica’s headquarters overcame public opinion,
economics and the extreme challenges of its position in a seismic zone to become reality - a
daring feat of design and engineering that has now earned somewhat legendary status among citizens.
Though no longer the company’s headquarter building, the structure is still heavily
associated with the Transamerica brand, forming its logo to this day.
To truly understand this structure, you perhaps need to look to its Redwood Park;
a small grove of trees alongside that offers an area of calm in the centre of the city.
Beckett had noticed how tall trees could still allow light to reach ground level
and drew inspiration for the Transamerica Pyramid,
likening everyone’s right to sunlight with their right to financial security.
Though it has since been surpassed by the Salesforce Tower as the city’s tallest building,
the Transamerica Pyramid remains the most iconic feature on San Francisco’s skyline,
a position it fought hard to reach and that it’s unlikely to lose any time soon.
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