Home Savings Tower Sits Atop Transit Stop : Project Seeks to Bridge Chasm Between Downtown L.A.’s Older, Newer Buildings

H. F. Ahmanson & Co. and its principal subsidiary, Home Savings of America, will conduct a formal opening on Tuesday for the new $100-million Home Savings of America office tower at the corner of 7th and Figueroa streets.

The holding company occupies the penthouse of the 24-story building as its new headquarters, and Home Savings has once again established its downtown branch on the ground floor of the site, following relocation a block away during the construction period.

The 260,000-square-foot office tower was developed by Ahmanson Commercial Development Co., a subsidiary of Home Savings, and designed by A.C. Martin & Associates.

A major consideration for Tim Vreeland, the chief project designer, was “to make a connection between the newer neighboring buildings and the older structures along 7th Street.

“I grew up in New York and I have always admired the massive, symmetrical structures with window openings that one sees along 7th Street. I felt an adaptation of the 16th Century French style would reflect this enduring architectural quality that we find also in the work of Richard Morris Hunt in American architecture in the beginning of the century,” Vreeland said.

The tower, with a base of travertine and verde antique marble, features octagonal turrets at each corner and a steeply pitched copper mansard roof with triangular gables and turrets.

A main sky lobby is located on the 6th floor to allow for five floors of parking above the underground systems and entrances to the Metro Rail and Long Beach light rail that will run below 7th Street.

“In keeping with Home Savings of America’s longstanding commitment to the visual arts, we have made fine art an integral part of the tower design,” said Jeffrey M. Gault, executive vice president of real estate for the firm.

Two 40-foot-high by 10-foot wide glass murals have been created by Joyce Kosloff for the building exterior, featuring 16th Century decorative devices derived from the chateaux gardens at Villandry and Chenonceaux in the Loire Valley. The panels will be installed in February.

Large sculptured window panels by Patsy Norvell are located on the ground floor to provide light and privacy at street level. Murals by New York artist Richard Haas, depicting a view of the Los Angeles Basin, have been installed on three sides of the sky lobby; Terry Schoonhoven, a Los Angeles artist, has done the ceiling for the Metro Rail portal.

Art consultant for the tower was Tamara Thomas of Fine Arts Services; general contractor was Swinerton & Walberg.