The Wilshire Grand is Now Open

One of The Conco Companies most impressive projects over the last few years was providing concrete services on the Wilshire Grand Center in downtown L.A.  Now after four years of construction, the 73-story tower officially opened on June 23, 2017.  Costing $1.35 billion, the 1,100 ft. tall skyscraper is the tallest building west of the Mississippi.   The opening ceremony for the skyscraper included local dignitaries and politicians as well as the owners of the building, Korean Air.  

In addition to its towering height, the Wilshire’s slanted peaked roofline, referred to as the “sail,” stands out among the flat roof tops of the surrounding buildings.  The design was instrumental in changing L.A.’s code that had required skyscrapers to have a flat roof to accommodate a helicopter in case of an emergency.  In fact it is the first high-rise without a flat roof since the L.A. City Hall was built in 1928.  According to the project’s lead architect, Chris Martin of AC Martin Partners, the “sail” design is based on a massive granite formation in Yosemite Valley called the Half Dome. 

The Wilshire is pretty spectacular at night also as the roof is lit up with rainbow-colored LED lights that can be seen for miles and will be used to project images onto the building’s face for special events.  The tower also is home to the city’s highest open-air bar, and has a top floor deck that offers 360-degree views of the city.  Another impressive feature is the skylight in the tower’s first-floor entrance.  Comprised of “a steel cage wrapped in 475 glass panels,” Chris Martin says it was inspired by the Merced River that runs through Yosemite.   

It is reported that 950 people worked on the project every day.  For the world’s largest continuous mat pour, Conco poured 21,200 cubic yards of concrete.  By the end of the pour, we had completed a foundation that is nearly 20 ft. thick. 

At The Conco Companies, we are one of the leading concrete contractors in the Western U.S. and offer a wide range of quality services and products.  Our experience includes providing services for commercial, educational, parking and other construction development as well as public works projects.  We serve California, Washington State, Oregon, Colorado and Nevada.

Source: la.curbed.com/2017/6/23/15860186/wilshire-grand-tower-los-angeles-opening