The Metro Headquarters Building (or One Gateway Plaza) is a 398 ft (121 m) high rise office tower in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It is located in Northeastern

Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Angeles region and covers a area. As of 2020, it contains over 500,000 jobs and has a population of roughly 85,000 residents ...

, east across the tracks from

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

. Completed in 1995, it serves as the main headquarters for the

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), branded as Metro, is the county agency that plans, operates, and coordinates funding for most of the Transportation in Los Angeles, public transportation system in Los Ang ...

Building

The $145.5 million building is the main fixture of the

Patsaouras Transit Plaza Patsaouras Transit Plaza is a bus station on the east side of Union Station (Los Angeles), Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles, near the El Monte Busway. It was originally named the Gateway Transit Plaza but was renamed after Nick Patsaouras, f ...

and features exquisite artwork throughout the exterior facades and the interior lobby. The main boardroom seats 350 people. The building's design features a blend of contextual influences of 1930s Hispanic-Deco and post-modern architecture. It features four levels of

underground parking A multistorey car park (Commonwealth English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistorey, parking building, parking structure, parkade (Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck, or indoor parking, is a building designed fo ...

. The construction of this building was filmed in the 1994 children's video There Goes a Bulldozer, where Dave Hood climbed a tower crane. In the '' Star Trek: Voyager'' episode " Future's End", a digitally-altered image of the building was used to represent the 1996 headquarters of villain Henry Starling ( Ed Begley, Jr.). The building was again seen, this time on a matte painting depicting a building on the Mari homeworld in the ''Star Trek: Voyager'' episode " Random Thoughts" in 1997. The building was also home to the Southern California Regional Rail Authority (Metrolink) from 2011 to 2018.

Criticism

Prior to its completion, the building was criticized for its use of expensive construction materials as a public agency. One critic dubbed it as a "Taj Mahal" in reference to its Italian granite, English brick and a $300,000 aquarium. However, proponents of the project argued that it would spur development around Union Station and create a new public gathering place.

References

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McLarand Vasquez Emsiek & Partners: MTA Headqiarters
{{Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Skyscraper office buildings in Los Angeles Buildings and structures in Downtown Los Angeles Government buildings in Los Angeles Office buildings completed in 1995 1995 establishments in California 1990s architecture in the United States

Building

Criticism

See also

References