| Golden Center | |
|---|---|
 Rendering of the Golden Center | |
| General information | |
| Location | Seattle, Cascadia |
| Status | Complete |
| Groundbreaking | 2005 |
| Constructed | 2005-2007 |
| Opening | 1 March 2007 |
| Use | Mixed use (Office, observation, dining, retail, government, communication) |
| Height | |
| Antenna or spire | 593 meters |
| Roof | 503 meters |
| Top floor | 500 meters |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 108 habitable floors and 2 parking levels in the basement (per building) |
| Cost | $5.6 billion |
| Companies involved | |
| Architect(s) | Chester L. Lindsey Architects |
| Structural engineer | Infra Corporation |
| Contractor | Infra Corporation |
| Developer | Government of Cascadia |
| Owner | Various |
| Management | Government of Cascadia |
The Golden Center is a completed complex made up of four skycrapers. The Golden Center 1 (North Tower), Golden Center 2 (East Tower), Golden Center 3 (South Tower), and Golden Center 4 (West Tower) will house Cascadian government offices and corporate office space, as well as some stores, restaurants, observation decks, and telecommunications equipment. At 503 meters and 108 floors in each tower, the Golden Center will be by far the tallest buildings in Cascadia and one of the tallest in North America.
Ground was broken on June 24, 2005. The buildings were completed on 12 January 2007 and opened on 1 March 2007. Droids were used to quickly assemble the frame and basic walls and floors. Windows, elevators, doors and lights were then installed, followed by painting and tiling. Plumbing, sanitation and electrical equipment was installed later.
Design[]
Each of the towers are a hexagonal design as opposed to the usual four sided design. This design is supposed to help keep the towers standing by including extra support and having more corners to hold strain. To connect the towers, two skywalks (as well as the ground level connection) will connect all four towers supported by a pillar guyed to the towers. The towers' angles will gradually twist 90 degrees from the 40th floor to the 100th floor.
Each tower will be divided into three areas of 36 floors, with a skylobby bordering on the bottom floor of each quarter. The main elevators will be able to travel to any skylobby. The secondary elevators will travel to floors above a skylobby until it reaches the next skylobby. There will also be a ground lobby. All lobbies will encompass one story. Skylobbies were implemented to provide more public backgrounds and to decrease elevator strain.
Emergency features include the presence of an elevator available for use in the middle of the higher skywalk, fire relief floors, high capacity emergency-only elevators and four meter wide staircases. In addition, there would be fireproofing of many materials in the case of a terrorist attack or fire.
Windows will be one meter wide, encircling every non-utility floor (which will instead feature vents around the floor). The towers will have a "triple tube design", the first tube being the outer skin, the second tube being the core wall , and the third tube being the inner core of a tower. This makes for a much stronger structure and column free floor space.