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

| Feb 17, 2013

Pakistan to get world's tallest tower in $45 billion deal

Newly signed mega deal will fund construction of several massive developments in Karachi, including a mixed-use tower that will dwarf the Burj Khalifa.

| Feb 13, 2013

'Vegetative tower' apartments to revive NYC site

A Manhattan site formerly slated for development with a "tower of cubes"—a now-defunct project by Santiago Calatrava—will be revived with a 998-foot, 300,000-sf apartment building by Morali Architects.

| Jul 9, 2012

Modular Construction Delivers Model for New York Housing in Record Time

A 65-unit supportive housing facility in Brooklyn, N.Y., was completed in record time using modular construction with six stories set in just 12 days.

| Jul 2, 2012

San Francisco lays claim to the greenest building in North America

The 13-floor building can hold around 900 people, but consumes 60% less water and 32% less energy than most buildings of its kind.

| Jun 13, 2012

Thornton Tomasetti founding principals receive CTBUH Fazlur R. Khan Lifetime Achievement Medal

This is the first time the CTBUH Board of Trustees has awarded the prize to two individuals jointly.

| Jun 6, 2012

KPF designs tower for Yongsan IBD

The master plan, created by Studio Daniel Libeskind, is a dynamic urban environment containing contributions from 19 different architects practicing in diverse locations around the globe.

| Jun 6, 2012

SOM urges Chicago tenants to partner with landlords to cut energy use

Tenants can exceed building energy challenge targets recently announced by Mayor Emanuel.

| Jun 1, 2012

New BD+C University Course on Insulated Metal Panels available

By completing this course, you earn 1.0 HSW/SD AIA Learning Units.

| May 29, 2012

Reconstruction Awards Entry Information

Download a PDF of the Entry Information at the bottom of this page.

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