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24 Facts You Might Not Know About the Transamerica Pyramid

San Francisco

Jenna HomenMay 11, 201533

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As one of San Francisco’s most unique buildings, you can see the Transamerica Pyramid from miles away. But how much do you actually know about it?

Joe Parks via Flickr

Located at 600 Montgomery Street in the Financial District, the Transamerica Pyramid Center — consisting of the Pyramid and 505 Sansome — occupies the entire block. But for security reasons, the public is only allowed on the ground lobby of the pyramid and only tenants and select visitors are allowed to go further.
So unless you are one of the lucky ones who has gotten the rare invitation inside, you probably don’t know too much about the building except that it looks pretty damn cool. We dug around and found some interesting things that we think you might want to know too.

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1. At 853 feet tall, it is currently San Francisco’s tallest building — that is, until the Salesforce Tower (which will be 1,100 feet tall) is complete.

Robert J. Pierce via Flickr

2. There are 48 floors, 15 passenger elevators, 3 freight elevators, and 3,678 windows.

John Wright

3. Because of the shape of the building, the majority of the windows can pivot 360 degrees so they can be washed from the inside.

4. The decorative aluminum spire at the top is 212-feet tall – roughly 20 stories.

5. The spire is actually hollow and lined with a 100-foot steel stairway at a 60 degree angle, followed by two steel ladders.

Brett Wise via The Bold Italic

6. There’s also a drain in the spire that offers a terrifying view of down below.

haightor via Imgur

7. There used to be a public observation deck on the 27th floor, but it was closed after 9/11.

8. So that means you can only check out the view by looking at the live feeds at the Visitor Center.

Dan_H via Flickr

9. The conference room (with 360 degree views of the city) is located on the 48th floor and can be booked for $400-600 dollars…an hour.

10. The glass cap at the top of pyramid is roughly the size of a cubicle.

11. The beacon at the tip is 6,000-watts and lit on special occasions, while the red aircraft light is a 1,000-watt high-voltage neon lamp required by the FAA.

Randy Souther via Flickr

12. No press or filming is allowed on the 48th floor or in the building.

13. It was designed by architect William Pereira and faced a lot of controversy while being built, even called “Pereira’s Prick.”

Time Magazine

14. The shape of the building is in part due to Transamerica CEO John R. Beckett wanting to allow more natural light on the street below.

15. Construction began in 1969 and the first tenants moved in during the summer of 1972.

16. The building is covered in crushed white quartz, giving it its pure white color.

Jeffrey Zeldman via Flickr

17. It takes 18,000 work hours to get “brightened” every 10 years, last occurring in 2007.

Shawn Clover via Flickr

18. The foundation of the building is 9 feet thick, which took 72 hours of continuous concrete pouring. Several thousand dollars in spare change were thrown into the pit during the pouring for good luck.

19. There is a commemorative plaque in honor of Bummer and Lazarus, the famous dogs of the 1850s, at the base of the building.

Nelson Minar via Wikipedia

20. Business tenants include Bank of America Merrill Lynch, ATEL Capital Group, Rembrandt Venture Partners, and more.

21. The Gold Rush ship The Niantic is located underground just a few feet away from the base of the Pyramid.

22. The building was actually proposed to be 1,000 feet tall, but the plans were shot down because it would have interfered with views of the Bay from Nob Hill.

David Lytle via Flickr

23. The legendary Huell Howser (rest in peace!) visited the Pyramid on California’s Gold Episode #3004.

24. There is a Redwood Park at the Center with trees transplanted from the Santa Cruz Mountains.