flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

LA's U.S. Bank Tower to build exterior glass slide leading from 70th to 69th floors

High-rise Construction

LA's U.S. Bank Tower to build exterior glass slide leading from 70th to 69th floors

The glass slide, part of a $50 million renovation project, will stretch 45 feet along the exterior of the building.


By David Malone, Associate Editor | March 3, 2016

Image courtesy OUE Skyspace LA

Observation decks with glass bottoms are all the rage. The Grand Canyon, Willis Tower, and Tower Bridge have all incorporated some sort of viewing deck with a glass bottom. It isn’t enough to just look out over a great expanse from up high anymore. Now, thrill seeking tourists want to be able to step out over vertigo-inducing heights and feel like a super hero floating above their city.

But a new glass bottom project in Los Angeles is looking to make floating in place in the sky passé and is upping the ante with a glass bottom structure that puts people in a more active role.

The U.S. Bank Tower, the tallest building in downtown Los Angeles, is getting ready to introduce tourists to the Skyslide: a 45-foot-long, four-foot-wide glass-bottomed slide suspended about 1,000 feet above the city streets on the exterior of the building.

For $8, customers will be able to enter the slide from the 70th floor and slide down to the observation deck on the 69th floor. The observation deck is the tallest open-air observation deck in California.

According to Overseas Union Enterprises Ltd, who owns the building, the slide is expected to open in June 2016. If glass bottom attractions already in place in other structures around the world are any indication, U.S. Bank Tower’s Skyslide is going to be very popular.

For more on the entire project, click here.

Related Stories

| Oct 31, 2014

Dubai plans world’s next tallest towers

Emaar Properties has unveiled plans for a new project containing two towers that will top the charts in height, making them the world’s tallest towers once completed.

| Oct 27, 2014

Studio Gang Architects designs residential tower with exoskeleton-like exterior for Miami

Jeanne Gang's design reinvents the Florida room with shaded, asymmetrical balconies.

| Oct 15, 2014

Final touches make 432 Park Avenue tower second tallest in New York City

Concrete has been poured for the final floors of the residential high-rise at 432 Park Avenue in New York City, making it the city’s second-tallest building and the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere.

| Oct 14, 2014

Richard Meier unveils design for his first tower in Taiwan

Taiwan will soon have its first Richard Meier building, a 535-foot apartment tower in Taichung City, the country’s third-largest city.

| Oct 6, 2014

Moshe Safdie: Skyscrapers lead to erosion of urban connectivity

The 76-year-old architect sees skyscrapers and the privatization of public space to be the most problematic parts of modern city design. 

| Oct 3, 2014

Herzog & de Meuron unveil design for Manhattan hotel-condo tower [slideshow]

Herzog & de Meuron will partner with interior designer John Pawson to design a 28-story tower for Manhattan's Bowery district. The majority of the building will house a 370-room hotel, with 11 luxury residences on its top. 

| Sep 30, 2014

With its 'stacked volumes' scheme, 3XN wins bid to design high-rise in Sydney

By dividing the 200-meter building into five separate volumes and placing atria throughout each volume, the spaces become smaller, more intimate social environments, according to the Danish architects.

| Sep 23, 2014

Cloud-shaped skyscraper complex wins Shenzhen Bay Super City design competition

Forget the cubist, clinical, glass and concrete jungle of today's financial districts. Shenzhen's new plan features a complex of cloud-shaped skyscrapers connected to one another with sloping bridges.

| Sep 22, 2014

Swanke-designed Eurasia Tower opens in Moscow

The 72-story tower—the first mixed-use, steel tower in Russia—is located within the new, 30 million-sf, 148-acre Moscow International Business Center.

| Sep 17, 2014

Arquitectonica's hairpin-shaped tower breaks ground in Miami

Rising above Biscayne Bay, the 305-meter tower will include three viewing decks, a restaurant, nightclub, and exhibition space.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category




halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021