Aon Center (Los Angeles)

Aon Center is a 62-story, 860 ft (260 m) Modernist office skyscraper at 707 Wilshire Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles, California. Site excavation started in late 1970, and the tower was completed in 1973. Designed by Charles Luckman, the rectangular bronze-clad building with white trim is remarkably slender for a skyscraper in a seismically active area. It is the third tallest building in Los Angeles, the fourth tallest in California, and the 58th tallest in the United States. The logo of the Aon Corporation, its anchor tenant, is displayed at the top in red.

Aon Center
Location within the Los Angeles metropolitan area Show map of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Aon Center (Los Angeles) (California) Show map of California Aon Center (Los Angeles) (the United States) Show map of the United States
Alternative names	United California Bank Building First Interstate Tower
Record height
Tallest in Los Angeles, California (4th) from 1973 to 1986^[I]
Preceded by	Transamerica Pyramid
Surpassed by	U.S Bank Tower (3rd)
General information
Status	Complete
Type	Commercial offices
Location	707 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles, California
Coordinates	34.049167°N 118.256944°W / 34.049167; -118.256944
Construction started	1970
Completed	1974
Owner	707 Wilshire Fee LLC
Height
Roof	261.52 m (858.0 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	67
Floor area	116,128 m^2 (1,249,990 sq ft)
Lifts/elevators	30
Design and construction
Architect	Charles Luckman
Structural engineer	Erkel Greenfield Associates
Main contractor	CL Peck Contractor
Other information
Parking	822
References
[1][2][3][4][5]

History

Aon Center was originally named the United California Bank Building from its completion in 1973 until 1981, when it became First Interstate Tower. During the 1984 Summer Olympics the 1984 Olympic logo was displayed on the north and south sides of the building's crown, as First Interstate Bank was a major sponsor of the games. It was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River when built, until 1982 when it was surpassed by the Texas Commerce Tower (now known as JPMorgan Chase Tower) in Houston. Upon its completion in 1973, the building was the tallest in the world outside of New York and Chicago. It remained the tallest building in Los Angeles until 1989, when Library Tower (now U.S. Bank Tower) was completed. Between 1998 and 2005, there were no logos on the building.

Fire

Main article: First Interstate Tower fire

On May 4, 1988, a fire began on the 12th floor just after 10:00 PM; it burned for about four hours. The fire destroyed five floors, injured 40 people, and left a maintenance worker dead because the elevator opened onto the burning 12th floor.[6] The fire was so severe because the building was not equipped with a sprinkler system, which was not required for office towers at the time of its construction. A sprinkler system was 90 percent installed at the time of the fire; however, the system was inoperative, awaiting the installation of water flow alarms.[6] The fire was eventually contained at 2:19 AM, and caused $400 million in damage. Repair work took four months. Because of the fire, building codes in Los Angeles were modified, requiring all high-rises to be equipped with fire sprinklers. This modified a 1974 ordinance that had only required new buildings to contain fire sprinkler systems.

Floor names

The north entrance is level with 6th Street, and is named BL (Bank Level since a Wells Fargo Bank branch occupies the eastern half of that floor). The east and west sidewalks slope downward to Wilshire Blvd. with steps leading up to the south entrance. Elevators on the south side of BL and escalators on the north side of BL both go up to the ML (Main Lobby) level, where additional banks of elevators reach floors numbered 4-62. No 2nd floor exists, though the height of ML is twice that of BL (hence, this is a 62-story tower with only 61 floors). The BL/ML elevator also goes down to underground levels LBL (Lower Bank Level), LL1 (Lower Level 1 with evacuation tunnel used by firefighters in 1988), and LL2 (valet parking garage).

In Popular Culture

In the 2015 movie San Andreas, when the 9.1 hits, the Aon Center can be seen on fire and breaking apart (the ON letters fall by the camera) as Ray rescues Emma from the restaurant. As Emma makes her way to the helicopter, another camera shot shows the building beginning to buckle with smoke pouring out as it tips towards 6th Street. As the building collapses, it crushes The California Club and The Standard Downtown LA. The buildings crash and break apart, leaving the city in a giant dust cloud.

The collapse can be seen here. (4:06-4:37)

See also

• List of tallest buildings in Los Angeles
• Aon Center (Chicago)

References

1. "Aon Center". CTBUH Skyscraper Center.
2. Aon Center at Emporis
3. Aon Center at Glass Steel and Stone (archived)
4. "Aon Center". SkyscraperPage.
5. Aon Center at Structurae
6. "Technical Report, Interstate Bank Building Fire". United States Fire Administration. Archived from the original on 8 January 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2015.

Further reading

• Cameron, Robert (1990). Above Los Angeles. San Francisco: Cameron & Company. ISBN 0-918684-48-X.

External links

• First Interstate Bank Fire Los Angeles Fire Department Historical Archive