One Bunker Hill

Originally the Southern California Edison Building, One Bunker Hill was designed and built during the ‘roaring 20s’ and opened in 1931. It was one of the country’s first all-electric buildings and first in the Western U.S. James E. and David C. of Allison & Allison was the architectural firm that designed the 14 story structure, along with Franz Hall and Royce Hall at UCLA.

One Bunker Hill was both beautifully created and structurally sound. The building’s steel skeleton was designed to enable it to withstand earthquakes. All of the earthquake bracing and special connections were manually welded and riveted, similar to old ships and other classic vessels of years past.

From a visual standpoint, the building fits the Art Deco design of its late 1920’s and early 1930’s era. The lobby features more than two dozen types of marble stones intricately inlaid square within a diamond within a square pattern. There’s an 18’ by 9’ oil painting in the main lobby that was commissioned to Hugo Ballin – who also produced more than 100 silent films, wrote four successful novels and designed the commemorative medallion for the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. The ‘Apotheosis of Power’ painting, located above the archway by the 5th Street lobby entrance, represents Edison as the source from which water and power flow with the likeness of Benjamin Franklin (right) and Dr. William Gilbert who coined the term electricity.

Above the exterior of there are three allegorical bas-reliefs, carved in place by Merrell Gage. The muscular figures representing ‘Power’ or ‘Distribution’ (right figure ready to turn a large electric switch), ‘Light’ or ‘Utilization’ (center figure holding a light bulb in his outstretched arms) and ‘Hydroelectric Energy’ or ‘Generation’ (left figure pouring water from a jug into a waterwheel).

Fast forward into the 21st Century and the prestige continued with the ownership and management of One Bunker Hill received the 2004 ‘Office Building of the Year’ award in the historical category.

One Bunker Hill is located at the North-West corner of 5th Street and Grand Avenue, next to the US Bank building and across the street from the central Los Angeles Library. It has 14 floors and is roughly 62 meters tall. Businesses that currently comprise the footprint of One Bunker Hill include Hot off the Press, Coffee Bean, La Salsa, a snack shop and many companies do business within the security of the building, including Torrey Pines Bank and GolinHarris Public Relations firm.

For more information on the building, please visit www.onebunkerhill.info.

Downtown LA as Bunker Hill

While growing up and even after college I never imagined that I’d work in downtown Los Angeles. In fact, I was born in the County of Los Angeles, spent my early years in La Verne and then most of my growing up took place in Moreno Valley in Riverside County. Aside from the occasional youth group convention or museum trips, I hardly ever go to downtown LA and now in the weaning years of my 20s, I have an office in one of the historical areas in downtown –Bunker Hill.

If you’re not familiar with Bunker Hill, it’s an actual hill in downtown where skyscrapers were built on it. From the horizon it’s easy to distinguish and is downtown. In 1867, a wealthy developer named Prudent Beaudry purchased the majority of the hill’s land and built lavish two-story Victorian houses (photo at left is circa 1898). Although it was initially a residential suburb, it retained character through World War I but with expansion into the surrounding areas it soon began to lose its luster. Freeway expansions around the time of World War II that were meant to bring shoppers downtown was actually taking more residents out. A once rich area became slum housing.

In 1955, LA city planners began to change the face of Bunker Hill with a redevelopment project aimed at creating modern plazas and buildings with taller skyscrapers. It cleared out the residential areas (see photo below of house being moved). It’s the longest redevelopment project in LA history and is scheduled to end in 2015. The majority of the skyscrapers built in the 1980s (photo above to right shows downtown circa mid 1970s with orange area as Bunker Hill while the one below it is the plan as of mid 1960s).

Some notable venues in the area include the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Museum of Contemporary Art, Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels and the U.S. Bank Building – the tallest building west of the Mississippi.

The area is also a popular location for filmmakers. Early films Kiss Me Deadly (1956), Criss Cross (1949) and Angel’s Flight (1965) were filmed at Bunker Hill as well as LA Confidential (1998). In more recent movies and shows you might recognize the area include the Italian Job (2003), Rush Hour (1998) and Transformers (2007).

Although downtown LA is larger than just Bunker Hill, it is what most people think about with the skyline of downtown. This is why my blog is called ‘Beyond the skyline’, so we can explore more than just what’s expected.