One California Plaza

The One California Plaza is a Modern Style skyscraper designed by Arthur Erickson Architects, and built between 1983 and 1985 in Los Angeles, CA.

One California Plaza is not the only name you might know this building by though. The building is, or has also been known as 1 Cal Plaza.

Its precise street address is 300 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA. You can also find it on the map here.

The One California Plaza has received multiple architecture awards for its architectural design since 1985. The following is a list of such prizes and awards:

• BOMA Award in 2016
• Kingsley Excellence Award Winner in 2022

1 Cal Plaza is part of the California Plaza project in Bunker Hill, Los Angeles, which includes only two completed towers of the three originally envisioned: One California Plaza and Two California Plaza. This campus-like setting, removed from city traffic, is also home to MOCA, the Colburn School of Performing Arts, the Omni Hotel and a 65,000-square water courtyard with lush gardens and outdoor areas.

At the time of its completion in 1985 the One California Plaza incorporated solutions that were quite advanced at the time, these included robust digital connectivity, energy efficiency, and intelligent capabilities, which led it to become the first building in California to achieve SmartScore certification. This distinction is awarded to the "smartest buildings in the world" for excelling in cost efficiency .

The building underwent a major restoration between 2018 and 2019. The architect commissioned to undertake this restoration was Rising Realty Partners.

Arthur Erickson Architects was the architecture firm in charge of the architectural design.

But that's not all, there was also a whole team of architects involved, which included: Gruen Associates, and Kamnitzer & Cotton.

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 One California Plaza a reality:

• Martin & Huang International Inc. in charge of Structural Engineering
• The Beck Group as the Main Contractor
• Bunker Hill Associates as the Main Developer
• WET Design in charge of Landscape Architecture

The One California Plaza can be categorized as a Modern Style building.

By their own nature, the Modern and International Styles can still look current, even in contemporary buildings. So that's not to say the One California Plaza appeared old or outdated when it was completed, but Arthur Erickson Architects certainly did not take many risks when it came to choosing the design style. This made the building look more "classic" and integrated within the city's architecture.

The One California Plaza uses a frame structure made of steel columns and concrete and steel 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 blue-tinted reflective glass with fine aluminum frames. At about a third of the tower's height the grids from the mechanical floor create a darker horizontal band across the building.

The tower sits on a four-level base clad in polished pink-toned granite.