Transamerica Pyramid

The Transamerica building was commissioned by Transamerica CEO John (Jack) R. Beckett, with the claim that he wished to allow light in the street below. Built on the site of the historic Montgomery Block, it has a structural height of 853 feet (260 m) and has 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 had been based in a flatiron-shaped building now occupied by the Church of Scientology of San Francisco.^[9]

Although the tower is no longer Transamerica Corporation headquarters, it is still 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.^[10] Designed by architect William Pereira, it faced opposition during planning and construction and was sometimes referred to by detractors as "Pereira's Prick".^[11] John King of the San Francisco Chronicle summed up the improved opinion of the building in 2009 as "an architectural icon of the best sort – one that fits its location and gets better with age."^[12] King also wrote in 2011 that it is "a uniquely memorable building, a triumph of the unexpected, unreal and engaging all at once. ... It is a presence and a persona, snapping into different focus with every fresh angle, every shift in light."^[13]

The Transamerica Pyramid was the tallest skyscraper west of Chicago when constructed, surpassing the then Bank of America Center, also in San Francisco. It was surpassed by the Aon Center, Los Angeles, in 1974.

The building is thought to have been the intended target of a terrorist attack, involving the hijacking of airplanes as part of the Bojinka plot, which was foiled in 1995.^[14]

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 ownership of the building as an investment.^[10] In 2020, the building was purchased by SHVO and Deutsche Finance America for $650 million.^[15] In 2022, SHVO and partners hired architect Norman Foster to undertake a $250 million renovation.^[8]

The Transamerica Pyramid was the tallest skyscraper in San Francisco from 1972 to 2017, when it was surpassed by the under-construction Salesforce Tower.^[16] It is one of 39 San Francisco high rises reported by the U.S. Geological Survey as potentially vulnerable to a large earthquake, due to a flawed welding technique.^[17]

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 north boundary of the financial district.

The building is a tall, four-sided pyramid with two "wings" to accommodate an elevator shaft on the east and a stairwell and a smoke tower on the west.^[18] The top 212 feet (65 m) of the building is the spire.^[19] There are four cameras pointed in the four cardinal directions at the top of this spire forming the "Transamerica Virtual Observation Deck."^{[citation needed]} Four monitors in the lobby, whose direction and zoom can be controlled by visitors, display the cameras' views 24 hours a day.^{[citation needed]} An observation deck on the 27th floor was closed: the Pyramid's official website says that it was closed to the public in 2001,^[20] while The New York Times reported that it has been closed "[s]ince the late 1990s".^[21] It was replaced by the virtual observation deck a few years later. The video signal from the "Transamericam" was used for years by a local TV news station for live views of traffic and weather in downtown San Francisco.^{[citation needed]}

The top of the Transamerica Pyramid is covered with aluminum panels. During the Christmas holiday season, on Independence Day, and during the anniversary of 9/11, a brightly twinkling beacon called the "Crown Jewel" is lit at the top of the pyramid.^[18]

•  
  Base
•  
  The Transamerica Pyramid
•  
  From Columbus Avenue (2012)
•  
  From San Francisco Bay (2017)
•  
  Steep aerial view, featuring spire (2016)
•  
  Aerial view at dusk by Carol Highsmith
•  
  Viewed from 555 California (2009)
•  
  Viewed from the Embarcadero (2023)

 

At the base of the building is a half-acre privately owned public space designed by Tom Galli called Redwood Park. A number of redwood trees were transplanted to this park from the Santa Cruz Mountains when the tower was built. It is currently closed as part of the remodel project. It features a fountain and pond designed by Anthony Guzzardo, containing a jumping frog and lily pads bronze sculpture commemorating "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" by Mark Twain (sculpture by Richard Clopton, 1996); a Glenna Goodacre bronze sculpture of children at play (1989); a bronze plaque honoring the dogs Bummer and Lazarus, celebrating their skill at catching rats; and benches and tables offering respite to workers and visitors alike.^[21][22][23]

 

• The building's façade is covered in crushed quartz, giving the building its light color.^[24]
• The four-story base contains 16,000 cubic yards (12,000 m³) of concrete and over 300 miles (480 km) of steel rebar.
• It has 3,678 windows.^[13]
• The building's foundation is 9 feet (2.7 m) thick, the result of a 3-day, 24-hour continuous concrete pour. Several thousand dollars in coins were thrown into the pit by observers surrounding the site at street level during the pouring, for good luck. ^{[citation needed]}
• Only two of the building's 18 elevators reach the top floor.
• The original proposal was for a 1,150-foot (350 m) building, which for a year would have been the second-tallest completed building in the world. The proposal was rejected by the city planning commission, saying it would interfere with views of San Francisco Bay from Nob Hill.^[7]
• The building is on the site that was the temporary home of A. P. Giannini's Bank of Italy after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake destroyed its office. Giannini founded Transamerica in 1928 as a holding company for his financial empire. Bank of Italy later became Bank of America.
• There is a plaque commemorating two famous dogs, Bummer and Lazarus, at the base of the building.^[25]
• The hull of the whaling vessel Niantic, an artifact of the 1849 California Gold Rush, lay almost 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 wings increase 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.^[26]
• A glass pyramid cap sits at the top and encloses a red aircraft warning light and the brighter seasonal beacon.^[27][28]
• Because of the shape of the building, the majority of the windows can pivot 360 degrees so they can be washed from the inside.^[29]
• The spire is hollow^[19] and lined with a 100-foot steel stairway at a 60-degree angle, followed by two steel ladders.
• The conference room (with 360 degree views of the city) is located on the 48th floor.
• Construction began in 1969 and the first tenants moved in during the summer of 1972.

• ATEL Capital Group
• Bank of America Merrill Lynch^[30]
• Crux Informatics
• Greenhill & Co.^[31]
• Heller Manus Architects
• Incapture Group^[32]
• Mars Inc.
• On Lok
• Pantheon Ventures
• Rembrandt Venture Partners
• TSG Consumer Partners
• Union Square Advisors LLC
• URS Corporation

• The Shard, a building in London
• Burj Khalifa, a building in Dubai
• Ryugyong Hotel, a building in Pyongyang

• List of tallest buildings in San Francisco
• 49-Mile Scenic Drive
• List of tallest buildings
• List of tallest pyramids

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Transamerica Pyramid.

• Official website
• About the Pyramid at Transamerica Corporation
• Transamerica Pyramid at PropertyShark