Aon Center

The Aon Center is an International Style skyscraper designed by Charles Luckman, and built between 1970 and 1973 in Los Angeles, CA.

Aon Center is not the only name you might know this building by though. It is common for companies to want to attach their names to iconic buildings when they move in, or for the general public to come up with nicknames, and this one is no exception. The building has changed names several times over the years, and is also known as:

• United California Bank between 1973 and 1981.
• First Interstate Tower until 1981.
• First Interstate Bank until 1984.

Its precise street address is 707 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA. You can also find it on the map here.

The building has two parking areas: one underground within the same building, and another located a few meters away connected to the building by a tunnel accessible to both vehicles and pedestrians, providing a total of 1028 parking spaces.

In 1988, while a springler system was being installed din the building, a fire started on the 12th floor. Security personnel ignored the alarms for 6 minutes, believing they must have been triggered by the installation works.

The building underwent a major restoration in 1992.

Charles Luckman was the architecture firm in charge of the architectural design.

That being said, architecture is a complex discipline involving many professionals from different fields, without whom this building would have not been possible. We will surely be leaving out a lot of names here, but here is a list of the people we do know also played their part in making the Aon Center a reality:

• Erkel Greenfield Associates in charge of Structural Engineering
• CL Peck Contractor as the Main Contractor

The Aon Center can be categorized as an International Style building.

The Aon Center uses a frame structure made of steel columns and concrete slabs.

A frame structure uses a combination of beams and columns to sustain the building's weight. The walls in this case are non-load bearing, which allows for more flexibility when distributing the interior spaces.

The facade uses a non-load bearing curtain wall system. This means the curtain wall modules are anchored to the building's structural frame, typically by being attached to the edge of the floor slabs. The curtain wall system connects to the slabs using brackets, anchors, and mullions, which transfer the loads imposed by wind and temperature changes, to the building's primary structural elements.

This setup allows the curtain wall to accommodate differential movement between the facade and the structural frame, such as thermal expansion, floor deflection, or sway from wind forces. This system's integration with the slab edges also allows for continuous insulation and weatherproofing layers.

From an aesthetic point of view, the facade features an aluminum-framed curtain wall with tinted bronze glass that, as it approaches the four corners, changes to aluminum panels framing the whole structure. The name of the building is displayed on this aluminum frame at the top of the building.

The building is topped with a helicopter landing pad.