Aon Center (Los Angeles)

For the skyscraper in Chicago, see Aon Center (Chicago).

Aon Center

Alternative names	United California Bank Building First Interstate Tower
General information
Status	Complete
Type	Commercial offices
Location	707 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles, California
Coordinates	34°02′57″N 118°15′25″W / 34.049167°N 118.256944°W / 34.049167; -118.256944Coordinates: 34°02′57″N 118°15′25″W / 34.049167°N 118.256944°W / 34.049167; -118.256944
Construction started	1970
Completed	1973
Owner	707 Wilshire Fee LLC
Height
Roof	261.52 m (858.0 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	62 5 below ground
Floor area	116,128 m² (1,249,990 sq ft)
Lifts/elevators	30
Design and construction
Architect	Charles Luckman
Structural engineer	Erkel Greenfield Associates
Main contractor	CL Peck Contractor
References
^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Aon Center is a 62-story, 860 ft (260 m) Modernist office skyscraper at 707 Wilshire Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles, California. Designed by Charles Luckman, site excavation started in late-1970, and the tower was completed in 1973, the rectangular bronze-clad building with white trim is remarkably slender for a skyscraper in a seismically active area. It is the second tallest building in Los Angeles, the second tallest in California, and the 31st tallest in the United States. The logo of the Aon Corporation, its anchor tenant, is displayed at the top in red.

History

Aon Center was originally named the United California Bank Building from its completion in 1973 until 1981, when it became First Interstate Tower. It was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River when built, until 1982 when it was surpassed by the Texas Commerce 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 only required new buildings to contain fire sprinkler systems, grandfathering older buildings. Existing all-concrete construction high-rises are still exempt from this ordinance.

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 ML (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

The 1988 fire was highlighted in a 1991 ABC TV-movie Fire: Trapped on the 37th Floor starring Lee Majors, Lisa Hartman-Black and Peter Scolari.
The building was featured in the 2015 disaster film San Andreas, where it collapses when a massive earthquake destroys Los Angeles.

Gallery

Aon Center

References

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

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aon Center (Los Angeles).

First Interstate Bank Fire Los Angeles Fire Department Historical Archive

Timeline of the tallest buildings in Los Angeles

Continental Building (46 m) (1903) Security Building (50.3 m) (1906) A.G. Bartlett Building (58 m) (1911) Park Central Building (62 m) (1916) Texaco Building (74 m) (1927) Los Angeles City Hall (138 m) (1928) Union Bank Plaza (157 m) (1968) 611 Place (189 m) (1969) City National Plaza (213 m) (1972) Aon Center (262 m) (1973) U.S. Bank Tower (310 m) (1990)

Timeline of the tallest buildings in California

Montgomery Block (15 m) (1853)
Old Saint Mary's Cathedral (27 m) (1854)
California State Capitol (64 m) (1874)
Chronicle Building (66 m) (1890)
Call Building (96 m) (1898)
Standard Oil Building (100 m) (1922)
Pacific Telephone Building (133 m) (1925)
Russ Building (133 m) (1927)
Los Angeles City Hall (138 m) (1928)
Hartford Building (142 m) (1965)
44 Montgomery (172 m) (1967)
Bank of America Center (237 m) (1969)
Transamerica Pyramid (260 m) (1972)
Aon Center (262 m) (1973)
U.S. Bank Tower (310 m) (1990)

Downtown area, Los Angeles

Districts and neighborhoods	Arts District Bunker Hill Chinatown Civic Center Fashion District Financial District Gallery Row Historic Core Jewelry District Little Tokyo Naud Junction Old Bank District Skid Row South Park Spring Street Financial District Toy District Wholesale District

Points of interest	Angels Flight The Broad Broadway Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels City Hall Convention Center Grand Park L.A. Live MOCA Music Center Olvera Street Pershing Square Staples Center Union Station

LA Regions Crescenta Valley Downtown Eastside Harbor Area Greater Hollywood Northeast LA Northwest LA San Fernando Valley South LA Westside Wilshire Mid-City West Mid-Wilshire

Timeline of the tallest buildings west of the Mississippi River

Central Tower (91 m) (1898)
Smith Tower (141 m) (1914)
Kansas City Power and Light Building (145.1 m) (1931)
Mercantile National Bank Building (159 m) (1942)
Sheraton Dallas Hotel (183 m) (1959)
ExxonMobil Building (185 m) (1963)
Republic Center Tower II (183 m) (1964)
Elm Place (191 m) (1965)
555 California Street (237 m) (1969)
Transamerica Pyramid (260 m) (1972)
Aon Center (262 m) (1973)
JPMorgan Chase Tower (305 m) (1982)
US Bank Tower (310 m) (1990)

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