United California Bank
Los Angeles, USA

HEIGHT: 219m/717 feet
FLOORS: 53 floors
COMPLETION: 1990
ARCHITECT: AC Martin Partners, Inc.

AC Martin Partners designed this 1,000,000 square-foot, 52-story landmark office tower on the site bounded by Wilshire Boulevard, Sixth Street and Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles. Rotated 45 degrees from the grid of the City, the building includes a plaza with a major fountain at the corner of Sixth and Wilshire and ground floor amenities, such as high quality fast food and retail shops, a large mezzanine, and a very high, dramatic lobby space. Specifically oriented to users such as large banks, legal and accounting firms, the building is configured to provide 25,000 square foot floors with a 42 foot lease depth. The overall result of this design is an elegant building with a dynamic base, rich in architectural space and character. The relatively simple middle section of the tower is highly functional, yet pleasing in composition, and the special form of the top adds strong identity to the Los Angeles skyline. The building has a very elegant and refined composition with many vertical elements, giving the tower a graceful appearance.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/rotpics03/la17.jpg

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/ssc1819/ucb1.jpg

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/sscpicsmcc/la28.jpg

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/sscpicsmcc/la22.jpg

http://photo.starblvd.net/RateOurTalls/1-3-1-1078348328?m=1&pg=0&ro=2&co=0

http://photo.starblvd.net/RateOurTalls/1-3-2-1078317396?m=1&pg=0&ro=2&co=1

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/sscpicsmcc/la17.jpgg

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/sscpicsmcc/la30.jpg

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/sscpicsmcc/la18.jpg

8/10

Damn.

nice...8/10

Very nice Set-back. Casually Rises up 53 storey with a smaller floor plan, and a green glass with the light-brown stone facade makes it looks even better!.....Love it...9/10

hey, this is something:) 7.5/10

9/10 This is a really unique skyscraper.

Quite nice.The colour is nice and also the set-back on top are good.
7.5/10

i dont like this much. 6.5/10

8/10

Very well crafted. I love how the setbacks slim the mass towards the top, culminating in the glass 'crown'.

Ok...nothin great....7

It seems to look dirty...or was it just the stony facade? Anyhow its quite a normal looking tower...7/10

8.5/10 - The set backs make the tower a bit slimmer, and emphasize the height; so do the silver mullions. The coral and green color scheme is effective, and very "south western," BTW. The contrast between the corners with the setbacks and the central sections of each side is also effective; it helps provide unity without monotony, and variety without chaos. Ditto for the top, which "fits" the rest of the tower, and also looks nice lit up at night.

But the building is still a bit chunky, and a spire on top would have been nice, though I understand L.A. mandates that roofs be flat.

10, awesome!

7.5/10

remake 5/10

remake of what?

8/10

facade: nice
form: great. I like the top
points: I voted for 9, but i think I correct it to 9,5

7.5/10


Kind of interesting

Decent.....

The glass verticals look OK because of the added elements just below each setback.

7.5/10

Unique !!
8/10

wow, this one's a beauty, it has style, grace, and combines verticality with excellent texture. 9/10. More impressive in person too!

9/10
A W E S O M E

10

HEhe very Californian. No spire due to the emergancy heliport :D

9/10 awesome one!

Love the color! 8.5/10 :)

never really paid attention to this one until just now, but this is definitely awesome!

9

7/10

fun and plain at the same time 7

7.5/10

8/10

Very nice. 8.5/10

Good setbacks and good height, but the facade is fairly average. Overall though, a good design.

7.5

I like this building very much and I've seen it never before. 9.5

7/10

I gave this building a 9. I think the pictures can tell you why.

beautiful 8

Nothing special, it's ok, 7/10

7.5/10

8/10.

Very good in some pictures, but mediocre in others. I give it a 7.5/10.

8! I like it!

7,5/10.

9/10

8.5/10

Very distinctive shape.A great building overall.

8.5/10

8.5.

this skyscraper is great. i especially enjoy how the greenish glass blends in with the light brown facade. it looks very big, but at the same time elegant. i also like the set-backs both at the entrance and at the very top...one of LA's finest!
10/10

Nice design and good tower
8.5/10

I like the setbacks. 9/10

8/10

7/10

Good shape, good height, good colours. It's just good :cool: 8/10

7/10

This building featured in an episode of "Numb3rs" last night. For those who don't live in a country saturated by American media, "Numb3rs" is the US television drama about a brilliant mathematician who assists his brother (an FBI agent) to solve cases. Last night there was a case about this building (it was called Cole Centre in the episode) being structurally unsound. Apparently it was based on a real case involving a building in New York. Very interesting.

i don´t like so much 6/10

8/10

Top looks interesting.
8.5/10

6/10

8/10

7/10 nice one!

9/10 This is a really unique

7.5/10

Great shape and colors 8/10

It's nice tking pictures of it from the Bonaventure Hotel, tall too. 9/10

7/10

8/10.

8 for me

Looks like a waterfall cascading down the tower with that middle stripe. Good stuff. 8.5/10

9/10

9/10 ;)

9/10

8.5/10

6/10

7/10

dats nice... 9/10

7,5/10

7/10

fantastic tower, 9/10

8.5/10

8/10

I have studied Los Angeles Skyscrapers very extensively since the mid '70's. I used to contact the construction companies regularly for picture portfolios of various projects in downtown LA, Century City, Wilshire and other highrise districts. I first saw a drawing of Sanwa Bank now UCB in 1985 and I rejoiced that the building was not just another black box that are way too numerous in downtown.I contacted Mitsui/Fudosan of Japan and they sent me literature about the building. I took pictures of the building shortly after it broke ground in mid 1988. But since I lived in Fresno I got my construction updates from television shows like "L.A. Law." I think UCB is an excellent skyscraper especially since it was one of the first towers to escape the black box syndrome. I also learned a new word because of UCB: I always stated that the building had 2 atriums. But I discovered that the proper plural is atria. UCB was originally slated to be 760 feet so I was disappointed that it only climbed 716 feet. it's a great building for any city in the world.

^ Really interesting stuff. Do you have any pictures of Sanwa under construction? Or any DTLA buildings under construction for that fact?

8.5/10.

6/10

8/10 very nice

7.5/10 nice

8/10, not bad

8/10.

8.5 nice.

8/10

7.5/10 the base is nice

8/10

8.5
I agree with Losangelesrocks la61
I hate how most of the buildings in LA are "big black boxes" you would expect more from a city of 13 million.
This building is not only a nice change but it realy is well designed.

7/10

7/10 cool design

7/10

Too masive 6.5/10

Facade looks really ugly and it's somewhat uninspired 6/10

8.5/10

8/10.

8/10

7.5/10

8/10

6/10

super!

6.0

8.5/10 Nothing special, but not bad...

6 :(

6/10

nice tower 9/10

Interesting!

8.5/10

8/10

7/

8.5/10

7.5/10

8/10

6/10

4/10

6/10...it looks ok...not to keen on the colour tho

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3306/3208747277_eca8927ce5_b.jpg

At nigh it shall look good º.º
8.5/10

3,5/10

7/10

Interesting...

7.0/10

9. Very good building. Regards.

9/10

9/10

Messy and overscaled. The base is particularly strange. 6

8/10

6/10

:yes:

well built 8/10

9/10

6.5

voted 7.5/10

8/10

8.5

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3076/3125857342_376e70997d_b.jpg

7.5/10 it's OK for me.

9/10

Important for the Los Angeles skyline, also I like it as a single building. 8/10

8/10

8/10

8/10

8/10

8/10 :)

8/10 Nice design..

8/10

9.5/10

8/10

7,5/10

8/10

8.5/10

7/10!

8/10

7/10

8.5 pretty majestic.

8/10

9/10

One of my favorite skyscrapers.

7/10

8.5/10

Great building. Love the facade.

That's a brutal wonderful monster :) 9/10

8/10

7.5

Very boring. 3/10

10/10

9/10

6.5/10, doesn't really float my boat.

10/10

8/10

9/10

8.5/10 neither simple nor extraordinary design but I like the height.

7.5/10