U.S. Bank Tower

The U.S. Bank Tower is a Postmodernist skyscraper designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, with Henry N. Cobb as lead architect, in association with Ellerbe Becket, and built between 1987 and 1989, for a reported $350 million dollars, in Los Angeles, CA.

U.S. Bank Tower 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:

• Library Tower between 1989 and 1996.
• First Interstate Bank World Center between 1996 and 2003.

Its precise street address is 633 West Fifth Street, Los Angeles, CA. You can also find it on the map here.

The U.S. Bank Tower has received multiple architecture awards for its architectural design since 1989. The following is a list of such prizes and awards:

• Outstanding Project Award in 1989
• Beautification Award in 1990

The tower's volume is the result of merging a cylinder with another right-angled volume. As the tower rises 4 setbacks further shape the volume, that culminates in a glass crown that illuminates at night.

At the time of its completion in 1989 the U.S. Bank Tower incorporated solutions that were quite advanced at the time, these included the largest high-resolution video screen in any office building .

The building underwent a major restoration in 2017. The architect commissioned to undertake this restoration was Jeffrey Beers, A + I Architecture.

Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, with Henry N. Cobb as the lead architect, was the architecture firm in charge of the architectural design, in association with Ellerbe Becket.

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 U.S. Bank Tower a reality:

• CBM Engineers in charge of Structural Engineering
• Turner Construction Company as the Main Contractor
• Otis Elevator Company as the company in charge of the elevators system
• Maguire Partners as the Main Developer
• Lawrence Halprin & Associates in charge of Landscape Architecture
• Gensler in charge of Interior Design

The U.S. Bank Tower can be categorized as a Postmodernist building.

The U.S. Bank Tower was completed in 1989. At that time Postmodernism was the prevailing style. Fresh, bold and daring, architects were exploring the freedom of designing without having to follow the strict, sometimes arbitrary rules of a specific architectural movement (which ironically became a movement itself). The U.S. Bank Tower was therefore every much in line with what the architecture community, and the people liked and wanted at the time.

The U.S. Bank Tower uses a framed tube-in-tube structure , with concrete and steel columns and concrete slabs.

A framed tube-in-tube structure uses a central core, known as inner tube, which usually holds stairs, lifts and installations, and a perimeter of columns around it, which form the exterior tube. The interior tube is tipically more massive (often made of reinforced concrete), and the exterior tube is "lighter" (made of steel or concrete columns). Both tubes are conencted via horizontal elements which make up the floors and also transmit any horizontal froces from the facade to the core.

The facade employs a non-load bearing curtain wall system. This means the curtain wall modules are anchored to the building's structural frame at the edges of the floor slabs. The perimeter columns are set back slightly from the facade, allowing them to remain independent of the curtain wall system.

This configuration enables a completely free design of the curtain wall, unencumbered by structural elements, thus providing greater flexibility in aesthetic choices and maximizing the visual impact of the exterior.

From an aesthetic point of view, the facade features a curtain wall system composed of reflective glass and light-colored aluminum panels, which create a sleek and modern appearance. The design incorporates strong vertical lines and setbacks, enhancing its visual appeal while also reducing wind loads and providing stability. Additionally, the exterior lighting highlights the architectural features at night, making the U.S. Bank Tower a prominent and iconic part of the Los Angeles skyline.

Another material found at the U.S. Bank Tower is venetian terrazzo, found in lobby floor.