Transamerica Pyramid- San Francisco, CA

In 1968 Transamerica President John R. Beckett noticed that the trees in a city park allowed natural light and fresh air to filter down to the streets below. Wishing to achieve the same effect with Transamerica's new headquarters, an unconventional pyramid shape was chosen for the building.

According to the architect, William L. Pereira, the pyramid is the ideal shape for skyscrapers, offering the practical advantage of letting more air and light in the adjacent streets. The building would be a statement of architectural sculpture. In the end, he turned out right. If you look at the Transamerica Pyramid now, it looks like it was made to be built in San Francisco.

A lot of protest came from the citizens of San Francisco when the plans for the new buildings of the Transamerica Company were unveiled in 1969. Most people claimed that the pyramid-shaped skyscraper wouldn't fit in the city

From an economical point of view, a pyramid is not an efficient structure in terms of surface, but it was a way for the architect to get around the strict building laws that imposed a certain ratio between the buildings surface and its height. Transamerica wanted a taller building but the city planning commission would not approve it because it interfered with precious views of San Francisco Bay from Nob Hill.

This 48-story building towers over the city at 853 feet and is the tallest building in San Francisco, has become a symbol for the city and for the Transamerica Corporation. The building has 48 floors, 3,678 windows. The largest floor is the 5th floor, with 21,025 sq ft, while the 48th floor is the smallest, with only 2,025 sq ft.

Check out the "virtual observation deck" in the lobby. You can control four cameras mounted on the top of the building, panning around north, south, east and west for views of the city. The wings that project from the side enclose the elevator shaft in one and a staircase and smoke tower in the other. Don't miss the scale model of the Transamerica Pyramid, for a top-down view.

Transamerica Pyramid, San Francisco

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Transamerica Pyramid, San Francisco

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