The Transamerica Pyramid is a pyramid-shaped 48-story modernist skyscraper in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, United States, and the
second tallest building in the
San Francisco skyline
San Francisco, California, in the United States, has at least 482 high-rises, 58 of which are at least tall. The tallest building is Salesforce Tower, which rises and is the List of tallest buildings in the United States, 17th-tallest buildin ...
. Located at 600
Montgomery Street
Montgomery Street is a north-south thoroughfare in San Francisco, California, in the United States.
It runs about 16 blocks from the residential Telegraph Hill, San Francisco, Telegraph Hill neighborhood south through downtown San Francisco, ...
between Clay and Washington Streets in the city's
Financial District
A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies, and other related finance corporations have their headquarters offices. In major cities, financial districts often host ...
, it was the tallest building in San Francisco from its completion in 1972 until 2018 when the newly constructed
Salesforce Tower
Salesforce Tower, formerly known as Transbay Tower, is a 61-story supertall skyscraper at 415 Mission Street, between First and Fremont Street, in the South of Market, San Francisco, South of Market district of downtown San Francisco. Its main ...
surpassed its height. The building no longer houses the
headquarters
Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...
of the
Transamerica Corporation
Transamerica Corporation is an American holding company for various life insurance companies and investment firms operating primarily in the United States, offering life and supplemental health insurance, investments, and retirement services. The ...
, which moved its U.S. headquarters to
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...
. The building is still associated with the company by being depicted on the company's logo. Designed by architect
William Pereira
William Leonard Pereira (April 25, 1909 – November 13, 1985) was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois, who was noted for his Futurist architecture#Post-modern futurism, futuristic designs of landmark buildings such as the Transamer ...
and built by Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Company, the building stands at . On completion in 1972 it was the
eighth-tallest building in the world.
It is also a popular tourist site. In 2020, the building was sold to NYC investor
Michael Shvo
Michael Shvo (; born December 29, 1972) is a real estate developer based in New York City with offices in Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago. He is the Chairman and CEO of SHVO, a real estate development company he founded in 2004.
...
, who in 2022 hired
Norman Foster
Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank (born 1 June 1935) is an English architect. Closely associated with the development of high-tech architecture, Lord Foster is recognised as a key figure in British modernist architecture. Hi ...
to redesign the interiors and renovate the building.
History
The Transamerica building was commissioned by Transamerica CEO
John (Jack) R. Beckett, with the claim that he wished to allow light in the street below. Built on the site of the historic
Montgomery Block
The Montgomery Block, also known as Monkey Block and Halleck's Folly, was a historic building active from 1853 to 1959, and was located in San Francisco, California. It was San Francisco's first fireproof and earthquake resistant building. It came ...
, it has a structural height of and has 48
floors
A floor is the bottom surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from simple dirt in a cave to many layered surfaces made with modern technology. Floors may be stone, wood, bamboo, metal or any other material that can support the expected load ...
of
retail
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...
and
office
An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a po ...
space.
Construction began in 1969 and finished in 1972, and was overseen by San Francisco–based contractor Dinwiddie Construction, now Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Company. Transamerica moved its headquarters to the new building from across the street, where it had been based in a
flatiron
Flatiron or flat iron may refer to various things, often in the shape of a wedge:
Objects
*Clothes iron
*Hair iron
Places
*Flatiron Building, New York City, at the intersection of 5th & Broadway
**Flatiron District, New York City, named after ...
-shaped building now occupied by the
Church of Scientology
The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religiou ...
of San Francisco.
Although the tower is no longer
Transamerica Corporation
Transamerica Corporation is an American holding company for various life insurance companies and investment firms operating primarily in the United States, offering life and supplemental health insurance, investments, and retirement services. The ...
headquarters, it is still associated with the company and is depicted in the company's logo. The building is evocative of San Francisco and has become one of the many symbols of the city.
Designed by architect
William Pereira
William Leonard Pereira (April 25, 1909 – November 13, 1985) was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois, who was noted for his Futurist architecture#Post-modern futurism, futuristic designs of landmark buildings such as the Transamer ...
, it faced opposition during planning and construction and was sometimes referred to by detractors as "Pereira's Prick". John King of the ''
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'' summed up the improved opinion of the building in 2009 as "an architectural icon of the best sort – one that fits its location and gets better with age." King also wrote in 2011 that it is "a uniquely memorable building, a triumph of the unexpected, unreal and engaging all at once. ... It is a presence and a persona, snapping into different focus with every fresh angle, every shift in light."
The Transamerica Pyramid was the tallest skyscraper west of Chicago when constructed, surpassing the then
Bank of America Center, also in San Francisco. It was surpassed by the
Aon Center,
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, ...
, in 1974.
The building is thought to have been the intended target of a terrorist attack, involving the hijacking of airplanes as part of the
Bojinka plot
The Bojinka plot ( ; ) was a large-scale, three-phase terrorist attack planned by Ramzi Yousef and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed for January 1995. They planned to assassinate Pope John Paul II; blow up 11 airliners in flight from Asia to the Unite ...
, which was foiled in 1995.
In 1999, Transamerica was acquired by
Dutch
Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
** Dutch people as an ethnic group ()
** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship ()
** Dutch language ()
* In specific terms, i ...
insurance company
Aegon
Aegon Ltd. (stylized as AEGON) is a Dutch public company for life insurance, pensions and asset management. It is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and has 26,000 employees as of July 21, 2020. Aegon is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam a ...
. When the non-insurance operations of Transamerica were later sold to
GE Capital
GE Capital was the financial services division of General Electric. Its various units were sold between 2013 and 2021, including the notable spin-off of the North American consumer finance division as Synchrony Financial. Ultimately, only one div ...
, Aegon retained ownership of the building as an investment.
[ In 2020, the building was purchased by SHVO and Deutsche Finance America for $650 million. In 2022, SHVO and partners hired architect Norman Foster to undertake a $250 million renovation.]
The Transamerica Pyramid was the tallest skyscraper in San Francisco from 1972 to 2017, when it was surpassed by the under-construction Salesforce Tower. It is one of 39 San Francisco high rises reported by the U.S. Geological Survey as potentially vulnerable to a large earthquake, due to a flawed welding technique.
Design
The land use and zoning restrictions for the parcel limited the number of square feet of office that could be built upon the lot, which sits at the north boundary of the financial district.
The building is a tall, four-sided pyramid with two "wings" to accommodate an elevator shaft on the east and a stairwell and a smoke tower on the west. The top of the building is the spire. There are four cameras pointed in the four cardinal directions at the top of this spire forming the "Transamerica Virtual Observation Deck." Four monitors in the lobby, whose direction and zoom can be controlled by visitors, display the cameras' views 24 hours a day. An observation deck on the 27th floor was closed: the Pyramid's official website says that it was closed to the public in 2001, while ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' reported that it has been closed " nce the late 1990s".[ It was replaced by the virtual observation deck a few years later. The video signal from the "Transamericam" was used for years by a local TV news station for live views of traffic and weather in downtown San Francisco.
The top of the Transamerica Pyramid is covered with aluminum panels. During the ]Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...
holiday season, on Independence Day
An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...
, and during the anniversary of 9/11, a brightly twinkling beacon called the "Crown Jewel" is lit at the top of the pyramid.
Gallery
File:Transamerica Pyramid base.jpg, Base
File:The Transamerica Pyramid.jpg, The Transamerica Pyramid
File:Downtown San Francisco in 2012.jpg, From Columbus Avenue (2012)
File:San Francisco harbor scene with Transamerica Pyramid.jpg, From San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...
(2017)
File:Sebastien Gabriel 2016-03-03 (Unsplash vppR0Z6U zY).jpg, Steep aerial view, featuring spire (2016)
File:Dusk view of San Francisco, California LCCN2011631129.tif, Aerial view at dusk by Carol Highsmith
Carol McKinney Highsmith (born Carol Louise McKinney on May 18, 1946) is an American photographer and author. Her work documents the landscapes, architecture, and people of the rural and urban United States in a decades-long nationwide study, in ...
File:View from 555 California Street in San Francisco - panoramio (4).jpg, Viewed from 555 California (2009)
File:Transamerica Pyramid 2023.jpg, Viewed from the Embarcadero (2023)
Park
At the base of the building is a half-acre privately owned public space
Privately owned public space (POPS), or alternatively, privately owned public open spaces (POPOS), are terms used to describe a type of public space that, although privately owned, is legally required to be open to the public under a city's zoni ...
designed by Tom Galli called Redwood Park. A number of redwood trees
Cupressaceae or the cypress family is a family of conifers. The family includes 27–30 genera (17 Monotypic taxon, monotypic), which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130–140 species in total. They are Monoecy, monoecious, Trioecy ...
were transplanted to this park from the Santa Cruz Mountains
The Santa Cruz Mountains ( Mutsun Ohlone: Mak-sah-re-jah, "Sharp Ridged Mountain of the Eagle" or "People of the Eagle Mountain") are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States, constituting a part of the Pacific Coast R ...
when the tower was built. It is currently closed as part of the remodel project. It features a fountain and pond designed by Anthony Guzzardo, containing a jumping frog and lily pads bronze sculpture commemorating "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is an 1865 short story by Mark Twain. It was his first great success as a writer and brought him national attention. The story has also been published as "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog" (its ori ...
" by Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...
(sculpture by Richard Clopton, 1996); a Glenna Goodacre bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...
sculpture of children at play (1989); a bronze plaque honoring the dogs Bummer and Lazarus
Bummer and Lazarus were two stray dogs that roamed the streets of San Francisco, California, in the early 1860s. Recognized for their unique bond and their prodigious rat-killing ability, they became a fixture of city newspapers, were exempted fr ...
, celebrating their skill at catching rats; and benches and tables offering respite to workers and visitors alike.
Specifications
* The building's façade is covered in crushed quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...
, giving the building its light color.
* The four-story base contains of concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...
and over of steel rebar
Rebar (short for reinforcement bar or reinforcing bar), known when massed as reinforcing steel or steel reinforcement, is a tension device added to concrete to form ''reinforced concrete'' and reinforced masonry structures to strengthen and aid ...
.
* It has 3,678 windows.[King, John (2011) ''Cityscapes: San Francisco and Its Buildings'' Berkeley, California: Heyday. p.2 ]
* The building's foundation is thick, the result of a 3-day, 24-hour continuous concrete pour. Several thousand dollars in coins were thrown into the pit by observers surrounding the site at street level during the pouring, for good luck.
* Only two of the building's 18 elevators reach the top floor.
* The original proposal was for a building, which for a year would have been the second-tallest completed building in the world. The proposal was rejected by the city planning commission, saying it would interfere with views of San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...
from Nob Hill
Nob Hill is a neighborhood of San Francisco, California, United States that is known for its numerous luxury hotels and historic mansions. Nob Hill has historically served as a center of San Francisco's upper class. Nob Hill is among the highe ...
.
* The building is on the site that was the temporary home of A. P. Giannini
Amadeo Pietro Giannini (), also known as Amadeo Peter Giannini or A. P. Giannini (May 6, 1870 – June 3, 1949) was an American banker who founded the Bank of Italy, which eventually became Bank of America (1904-1998), Bank of America. Giannini is ...
's Bank of Italy
The Bank of Italy (Italian language, Italian: ''Banca d'Italia'', , informally referred to as ''Bankitalia'') is the National central bank (Eurosystem), national central bank for Italy within the Eurosystem. It was the Italian central bank from ...
after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake
At 05:12 AM Pacific Time Zone, Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli inte ...
destroyed its office. Giannini founded Transamerica in 1928 as a holding company for his financial empire. Bank of Italy later became Bank of America
The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...
.
* There is a plaque commemorating two famous dogs, Bummer and Lazarus
Bummer and Lazarus were two stray dogs that roamed the streets of San Francisco, California, in the early 1860s. Recognized for their unique bond and their prodigious rat-killing ability, they became a fixture of city newspapers, were exempted fr ...
, at the base of the building.
* The hull of the whaling vessel ''Niantic'', an artifact of the 1849 California Gold Rush
The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...
, lay almost beneath the Transamerica Pyramid, and the location is marked by a historical plaque outside the building ( California Historical Landmark #88).
* The aluminum cap is indirectly illuminated from within to balance the appearance at night.
* The two wings increase interior space at the upper levels. One extension is the top of elevator shafts while the other is a smoke evacuation tower for fire-fighting.
* A glass pyramid cap sits at the top and encloses a red aircraft warning light
Aviation obstruction lighting is used to enhance the visibility of structures or fixed obstacles which may conflict with the safe navigation of aircraft. Obstruction lighting is commonly installed on towers, buildings, and even fences located in ...
and the brighter seasonal beacon.
* Because of the shape of the building, the majority of the windows can pivot 360 degrees so they can be washed from the inside.
* The spire is hollow and lined with a 100-foot steel stairway at a 60-degree angle, followed by two steel ladders.
* The conference room (with 360 degree views of the city) is located on the 48th floor.
* Construction began in 1969 and the first tenants moved in during the summer of 1972.
Tenants
* ATEL Capital Group
*Bank of America Merrill Lynch
BofA Securities, Inc., previously Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML), is an American multinational investment banking division under the auspices of Bank of America. It is not to be confused with Merrill, the stock brokerage and trading pla ...
*Crux Informatics
* Greenhill & Co.
*Heller Manus Architects Heller Manus Architects, founded in 1984, is a San Francisco, California-based architecture firm providing architectural, master planning, and urban design services for public and private sector clients. Jeffrey Heller, FAIA is the founding principa ...
*Incapture GroupIncapture Group Moves Into The Iconic Pyramid
* Mars Inc.
*On Lok
*Pantheon Ventures
Pantheon is a private equity, infrastructure, real assets and debt investor that invests on behalf of over 660 investors, including public and private pension plans, insurance companies, endowments and foundations. Founded in 1982, Pantheon has d ...
*Rembrandt Venture Partners
*TSG Consumer Partners
TSG Consumer Partners is an American private equity company based in San Francisco, California. The firm was founded in 1986, and was among the first private equity firms to invest exclusively in consumer companies.
*Union Square Advisors LLC
*URS Corporation
URS Corporation (formerly United Research Services) was an engineering, design, and construction firm and a U.S. federal government contractor. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, URS was a full-service, global organization with office ...
Similar structures
*The Shard
The Shard, also referred to as the Shard London Bridge and formerly London Bridge Tower, is a 72-storey mixed-use development supertall pyramid-shaped skyscraper, designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, in Southwark, London, that for ...
, a building in London
*Burj Khalifa
The Burj Khalifa (known as the Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration) is a megatall skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With a total height of 829.8 m (2,722 ft, or just over half a mile) and a roof height (excluding the antenna, but inc ...
, a building in Dubai
*Ryugyong Hotel
The Ryugyong Hotel (; sometimes spelled as Ryu-Gyong Hotel), or Yu-Kyung Hotel, is a tall unfinished pyramid-shaped skyscraper in Pyongyang, North Korea. Its name ( "capital of willows") is also one of the historical names for Pyongyang. The ...
, a building in Pyongyang
See also
* List of tallest buildings in San Francisco
San Francisco, California, in the United States, has at least 482 high-rises, 58 of which are at least tall. The tallest building is Salesforce Tower, which rises and is the List of tallest buildings in the United States, 17th-tallest buildin ...
* 49-Mile Scenic Drive
The 49-Mile Scenic Drive is a historic scenic road tour highlighting much of San Francisco, California. It was created in 1938 by the San Francisco Down Town Association to showcase the city's major attractions and natural beauty during the 193 ...
* List of tallest buildings
This is a list of the tallest buildings. Tall buildings, such as skyscrapers, are intended here as enclosed structures with continuously occupiable floors and a height of at least . Such definition excludes non-building structures, such as tow ...
* List of tallest pyramids
This article is a list of the tallest pyramids in the world, both ancient and modern. In order to qualify for inclusion, each entry must be referred to as a pyramid (not just "pyramidal", "pyramid-shaped", or "in the shape of a pyramid") by reliabl ...
References
External links
*
About the Pyramid
at Transamerica Corporation
Transamerica Corporation is an American holding company for various life insurance companies and investment firms operating primarily in the United States, offering life and supplemental health insurance, investments, and retirement services. The ...
Transamerica Pyramid
at PropertyShark
{{Authority control
Office buildings completed in 1972
Insurance company headquarters in the United States
Skyscraper office buildings in San Francisco
Modernist architecture in California
Pyramids in the United States
William Pereira buildings
Financial District, San Francisco
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum certified buildings
1972 establishments in California
Earthquake-resistant structures