Richard Keating Quits Top Post at Skidmore, Owings

Veteran architect Richard Keating, who designed the Columbia Savings & Loan office building in Beverly Hills, has announced his resignation as partner-in-charge at the Los Angeles office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, effective Oct. 1.

Keating, 45, joined the Los Angeles office in May, 1986, after leaving the Houston office, which he opened and ran for 10 years. He first joined the firm in Chicago in 1968.

“This is an amicable parting of ways,” Keating said in a news release. He could not be reached for comment.

“My years at SOM were good ones. I feel well prepared for a change, and I am excited and energized by the prospects of a new challenge,” said Keating.

In the meantime, Keating will continue to work for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, overseeing projects under way, such as the Pacific Atlas Office Building & Hotel in Los Angeles, said Deanie Nyman, his spokeswoman. Nyman said Keating will announce his plans in October.

When he first joined the Los Angeles office, Keating quickly restructured it. “The design ideas, the quality of the detailing, the caliber of the management were all below the levels we demand,” he said in a 1988 interview.

Among his high-rise projects, Keating designed the 50-story Trammel Crow Center (formerly the LTV Tower) and the 55-story Texas Commerce Tower in Dallas.

A San Francisco native, Keating graduated from UC Berkeley.