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Next to the Gherkin, a Tulip-shaped tower designed by Foster + Partners could soon rise

2018-11-19T14:10:00-05:00

British firm Foster + Partners have proposed plans for a Tulip-shaped tower that would rise beside their London landmark, the Gherkin. The new skyscraper, which at 305-meters high would become the city's second-tallest building, is conceived as a state-of-the-art cultural and educational resource by the architects.

Credit: DBOX for Foster + Partners

Also described as 'a classroom in the sky,' the future landmark will include an educational facility for local schoolchildren, with 20,000 free visits offered per year. In addition, the Tulip will have viewing galleries as well as bars and restaurants offering panoramic views of the city.

Visitors will have a variety of noteworthy ways to move about the 12-story observation tower, choosing between sky bridges, internal glass slides and/or a gondola pod ride.

Credit: DBOX for Foster + Partners

Announcing the plans, Norman Foster described the project as "in the spirit of London as a progressive, forward-t...

"Bouncy-house urbanism is on the rise." – Christopher Hawthorne rides the U.S. Bank Tower's 'SkySlide'

2016-06-24T12:53:00-04:00

As white-shoe law firms shrink and expanding tech companies in L.A. increasingly move into restored warehouses or historic buildings, commercial skyscrapers around the country are struggling to find tenants. [...] That leaves the owners of aging all-office high-rises like the U.S. Bank Tower looking for ways to produce new revenue [...] OUE is not the first company to see a possible revenue stream in the desire of adults to pay money to act like children in downtown settings.

More on what's happening in Downtown Los Angeles:

The West Coast's tallest tower is getting a glass-bottomed slide on its 69th floor

2016-03-01T20:37:00-05:00

Bank Tower owners OUE Limited announced today a new addition to the Skyspace observation deck tourist attraction that's guaranteed to give it that "thrill factor": a 36-foot long glass slide that will allow brave souls to slide from the 70th floor to the 69th along the outside of the building. Called the Skyslide, the chute will be made of clear glass four inches thick [and] sit about 1,000 feet above the ground

Don't look down.

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