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Turner Construction is bringing the Wilshire Grand Center project in Los Angeles to life.
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The Wilshire Grand Center will be easy to spot in the Los An-geles skyline once it is completed in 2017. At 1,100 feet in total height, the 73-story, $1 billion-plus development will be the tallest structure in not only the city, but also the en-
tire Western United States. Work on the Wilshire Grand Tower began in 2012 with the demolition of the 1.2 million-square-foot Wilshire Grand Hotel, completed in 1952, which the new tower will replace. The building’s distinctive sail-shaped top – constructed of struc-tural steel and glazing and highlighted with a spire on one end – will also be an eye-opener in a city known for flat-topped structures. “The owners (Hanjin International Corp., a subsidiary of Korean Air) requested and received a variance to city codes for this building because they wanted to change the skyline of the city,” says Michael Marchesano, general superintendent for Turner Construction, the general contractor on the project. Instead of a helicopter pad required by city code – the reason for the city’s box-topped architecture – the Wilshire Grand will feature a tactical approach pad, which emergency personnel can be lowered onto to gain access to the roof. A portion of a helicopter can also touch down on the pad to let someone off or on, Marchesano notes.
Solid FoundationsThe Wilshire Grand’s spire is just one of the features that will distinguish the 2.2-million-square-foot building from many of its surrounding neighbors. The building will feature a concrete core, around which a single-span glass curtainwall will be placed. The core will contain the elevator shafts serving the 900-room hotel located on the building’s upper floor as well as the offices on the lower floors, convention space and commer-cial uses on its lower floors. “The buildings in L.A. are very stout and more of a boxier building,” Turner Vice President and Construction Executive Scott Borland says. “This is the first building here in downtown
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014 CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM
STANDING TALLThe Wilshire Grand Center will be Los Angeles’ tallest and most
architecturally striking building. BY JIM HARRIS
Turner Construction – Wilshire Grand Centerwww.wilshiregrandcenter.com, www.turnerconstruction.com
• Project cost: $1 billion• Location: Los Angeles• Employees on site at peak: 800• Scope of work: Commercial tower“We have longstanding relationships with many of our trade partners.” -Scott Borland, VP
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Los Angeles that is a composite structure with a concrete core and structural steel and glass exterior.” The concrete core will give the Wilshire Grand stability against seismic events and also serve as protection in an event of a fire. The Wilshire Grand’s frame also features three levels of buckle-resistant bracing, which act as a shock absorber against earthquakes, Borland adds. The building’s foundation concrete was placed in February 2014 during an 18.5-hour pour, which set a Guinness World Record for the longest continuous foundation concrete pour. Concrete trade partner Conco poured 2.1 million cubic yards of concrete and trade partner Gerdau placed just under 7 million pounds of reinforcing steel prior to the pour. A very intricate thermal control system was used to monitor the temperature of the concrete during and after the pour not to exceed 170 degrees prescribed by the structural engineer, Marchesano says. Recent work on the site includes raising the columns and shear walls that will serve as the building’s main foundation. Work is also underway on the building’s five concrete sublevels, which will serve as below-grade parking deck. Vertical construc-
CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014
The Wilshire Grand’s 18.5-hour foundation pour set a world record.
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tion will begin in November 2014 with the installation of the building’s steel floor plates above grade.
Building AmenitiesThe concrete core will decrease in size on the building’s upper floors as the core walls taper in height, because the building itself features a curved tower design. High-speed double-decker elevators will be used to service the office and hotel through the use of two separate elevator banks. The hotel floors are located on floors 31 through 73 with the sky lobby for check-in located on floor 70. “The concrete core in its size limited our shaft space, so we’re going with two cars in each shaft as part of the double-decker elevator system provided by trade partner
CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014
Vertical construction on the Wilshire Grand will get
underway in November.
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‘This is the first building here in downtown L.A. that is a composite structure.’
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Otis Elevator,” Borland says. “There aren’t too many double-decker elevator installations in North America.” An additional amenities deck will be located adjacent to the sev-enth floor, on the top of the building’s six-story podium. The podium will house event and convention space, Marchesano says.
Lean and GreenTurner Construction will employ a number of methods and materi-als that will make the Wilshire tower both lean and “green.” The use of curtainwall, glass and other environmentally friendly materials is projected to earn the building LEED Silver certification. The building will include lighting controls and a geothermal energy storage system, Borland notes.
CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014
At Work in California
Turner Construction has grown to become one of the largest and most trusted builders in Southern California since opening its first office in the state in 1964. The company has completed some notable projects within the region, which include:
• Rand Corp.’s headquarters in Santa Monica;• The south campus expansion of Toyota’s headquarters in
Torrance;• The Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes; • Mission Community Hospital in Panorama City;• Disney Grand Hotel;• Hard Rock Hotel;• Angel Stadium of Anaheim Stadium retrofit;• Gas Company Tower;• Library Square (US Bank) tower; and• City National Bank tower.
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‘There aren’t too many double-decker elevator installations in North America.’
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When completed, the Wilshire Grand will be the
tallest building in L.A.
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The use of modular methods on two significant building components will make the construction process faster and more efficient. The exterior curtainwall system will be manufactured off-site and installed in large modular panels floor-by-floor up the building. All of the typical guestroom toilets used in the hotel guest rooms will be manufac-tured offsite for better production as well as quality control. The materials used in the bathrooms will be selected by the building’s owners and placed in modules that will be manufactured in Madera, Calif. The bath-rooms will be shipped to the construction site and placed onto the hotel floors with the use of the tower cranes on the project, Borland and Marchesano add.
Moving ForwardTurner’s use of efficient construction meth-ods will help it meet the challenge of com-pleting the project on time. Several aspects of the project are still being permitted and designed as construction proceeds through its early phases. “We’re doing design and scheduling simultaneously because we have a specific
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‘We’re doing design and sched-uling simultaneously because we have a specific end date.’
The Conco Companies The Conco Com-panies, one of the nation’s largest commercial concrete contractors, is honored to be partners with Turner Construction on the Wilshire Grand project located in downtown Los Ange-les. Conco and Turner recently broke the world record for the largest continuous mat pour by completing a 21,200 cubic yard concrete placement in just 18 ½ hours. Five months prior to the mat pour, Conco’s team began meeting to discuss critical topics such as traffic plans, site logistics, points of placement, ther-mal control, and concrete mixes. Ultimately, 208 ready-mix trucks delivered 21,200 cubic yards of concrete to 13 of Conco’s pumps spread out around the site. It took two shifts of more than 50 Conco workers to place and finish the concrete some 70 feet below street level. When completed, the tower will stand more than 1,100 ft. tall. For more information on this this project visit our website at http://www.conconow.com/.
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required end date to meet,” Borland says. The company’s subcontractors are also helping it meet deadlines. “We have long-standing relationships with many of our subcontractors,” he adds.
Project team members include Cornell and Co., which is supplying the tower cranes used on the project. Turner is using diesel-powered cranes instead of electric cranes, which are not typically used in proj-
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Turner Construction credits its subcontractors for helping
keep the project on track.
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TITAN AEC TITAN AEC is one of the industry’s leading providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services. TITAN AEC is focused on assisting Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Owners firms increase efficiency and productivity by adopting Building Information Modeling along with other design methodologies into their project workflow. TITAN AEC helps its clients transform in order to improve their performance and competitive positioning. TITAN AEC offers an array of integrated ser-vices that combine top-of-the-line technology with deep industry expertise and a strong command of how projects are executed and delivered. TITAN AEC has offices in Los Angeles and Sacramento. Our agile team can implement technology in AEC firms regard-less of location.
32CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014
A Brief History
1950: A $15 million building permit, the largest issued by Los Angeles up to that point, is issued for construction of the Hotel Statler.
1952: The hotel opens.
1954: Hilton Hotel buys the Statler chain, changing the hotel’s name to the Statler Hilton.
1960: President Kennedy stays at the hotel during the Demo-cratic National Convention.
1968: The Statler Hilton undergoes a $2.5 million renovation and is re-named the Los Angeles Hilton.
1983/84: Reliance Group purchases the hotel for $70 million
and invests $30 million into renovations.
1987: Pope John Paul II stays at the hotel during his LA visit.
1989: Korean Air buys the hotel.
1995: A contract with Omni USA begins, again changing the hotel’s name.
1999: The Omni Hotel changes its name to Wilshire Grand Hotel.
2012: Deconstruction of the Wilshire Grand begins.
2013: The design of the Wilshire Grand Center is unveiled.
ects within the region. They were selected because they have a greater load capacity that would accommodate the project. Other notable contractors include Schuff
Steel, which is fabricating and erecting the structural steel; Gerdau Reinforcing Steel, which is supplying and installing the reinforcement steel used throughout the buildings structure; Otis Elevator; and
Benson, which will supply the exterior wall system. The MEPF building trades in-clude ACCO Mechanical, Rosendin Electric, XL Fire Protection and plumbing contrac-tor Pan Pacific.
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Turner Construction says the project includes numerous
sustainable features.
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Montbleau Montbleau is a professional team of approximately 120 craftsmen, project manag-ers and engineers established by Ron Montbleau in 1979. This team is experienced and skilled in manufacturing architectural woodwork, corporate furniture and casework for large hospitality and commercial projects. Montbleau works closely with clients such as Turner Construction, and collaborates with project architects and interior designers to achieve design intent while bringing the best value to their projects. The company has always produced the highest level of quality and craftsmanship and intends to continue striving to maintain clients’ complete satisfaction. Montbleau has proven over the past 35 years to be worthy of a “preferred company” status with most of its clients. With offices in San Diego, Silicon Valley and Las Vegas, the Montbleau team is always available to be at any given job site that will require our services.
