flexiblefullpage -
billboard - default
interstitial1 - interstitial
catfish1 - bottom
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

High-rise Construction | Jul 9, 2013

5 innovations in high-rise building design

KONE's carbon-fiber hoisting technology and the Broad Group's prefab construction process are among the breakthroughs named 2013 Innovation Award winners by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

| Jul 1, 2013

LEGOLAND builds 12-foot replica of One World Trade Center

The LEGOLAND Discovery Center Westchester in Yonkers, N.Y., celebrated the completion of a LEGO replica of One World Trade Center by lighting the 12-foot-tall, 100-pound model.

| Jun 25, 2013

Mirvish, Gehry revise plans for triad of Toronto towers

A trio of mixed-use towers planned for an urban redevelopment project in Toronto has been redesigned by planners David Mirvish and Frank Gehry. The plan was announced last October but has recently been substantially revised.

| Jun 25, 2013

First look: Herzog & de Meuron's Jade Signature condo tower in Florida

Real estate developer Fortune International has released details of its new Jade Signature property, to be developed in Sunny Isles Beach near Miami. The luxury waterfront condo building will include 192 units in a 57-story building near high-end retail destinations and cultural venues.  

| Jun 17, 2013

First look: Austin to get first high-rise since 2003

Developer Cousins Properties broke ground on the 29-story Colorado Tower in downtown Austin, Texas, the city's first high-rise building since Cousins' completed the Frost Bank Tower a decade ago.

| Jun 11, 2013

Vertical urban campus fills a tall order [2013 Building Team Award winner]

Roosevelt University builds a 32-story tower to satisfy students’ needs for housing, instruction, and recreation.

| Jun 11, 2013

Finnish elevator technology could facilitate supertall building design

KONE Corporation has announced a new elevator technology that could make it possible for supertall buildings to reach new heights by eliminating several problems of existing elevator technology. The firm's new UltraRope hoisting system uses a rope with a carbon-fiber core and high-friction coating, rather than conventional steel rope.

| Jun 4, 2013

SOM research project examines viability of timber-framed skyscraper

In a report released today, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill discussed the results of the Timber Tower Research Project: an examination of whether a viable 400-ft, 42-story building could be created with timber framing. The structural type could reduce the carbon footprint of tall buildings by up to 75%.

| May 23, 2013

Supertall 'Sky City' will house 4,400 families in Changsha, China

Broad Sustainable Building has completed a long and arduous approval process, and is starting excavation and construction on Sky City in June, 2013. The proposed "world's tallest building" will be a mixed-use project that could accommodate life and work needs of up to 30,000 people.

| May 7, 2013

First look: Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill skyscraper designed to 'confuse the wind'

The 400-meter-high, 116-story Imperial Tower in Mumbai will feature a slender, rounded form optimized to withstand the area's strong wind currents.

boombox1 - default
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