LA Live

The 55-story Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Residences and JW Marriott Hotel at LA Live stands alone as a profound success of performance-based structural design. The hotel tower takes full advantage of a leading edge structural steel lateral force resisting system, comprised of un-stiffened thin steel plate shear walls (SPSW). It is the first high-rise to use this technology in California. The hotel tower also consists of steel moment frames, Buckling Restrained Braces (BRB), mid-height outriggers and cap trusses. The hotel has won many awards, including the coveted AISC Presidents Award in April of 2010.

The hotel serves as the focal point for the 5.6 million sf mixed use development area of LA Live which covers more than six city blocks.

The tower’s unique shape reflects the need to accommodate the high-end suites and residences at the top, which needed to be up to 12 feet deeper than the standard guest rooms below. To create this profile, curved steel columns were placed near the top of the tower to support the main structure and the glass curtain wall. “The result is striking and harmonious, creating an elegant form.”