Korean Air, AC Martin collaborating on Western region's tallest tower
By BD+C Staff
The Wilshire Grand tower, a new mixed-use project in Los Angeles' financial district, will be the tallest U.S. building west of Chicago, at 1,100 feet. AC Martin Partners designed the $1 billion tower, which will combine retail, office, and hotel space.
Developer Korean Air worked closely with the design team on the 71-story project, comprising retail and restaurant space at the street level, 100,000 sf of offices in the mid-section, and a luxury 900-room hotel at the top. Features include a concrete-reinforced hardened elevator shaft design, intended to preserve elevator functionality for four hours during a fire evactuation. The top of the building will be accented with a glass pediment and spire, and the glass façade will incorporate embedded LED lighting.
The tower is being built on the site of the prior Wilshire Grand hotel and office building, which closed in 2011.
(http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/new-wilshire-grand-design-revealed/article_a1871f80-717d-11e2-aae7-001a4bcf887a.html)acn