Ronstan Tensile Architecture – a leader in end-to-end specialty contracting services and technical expertise in tensile architecture – provided a sleek cabling system to help support 20,000 square feet of glass curtainwall inside the JW Marriott Hotel at L.A. LIVE, part of a new cutting-edge tower built for the premiere entertainment campus in Los Angeles, CA.
Serving as the main hub for L.A. LIVE, the tower stands 54 stories tall, making it the first skyscraper in L.A. to reach such heights in two decades. While JW Marriott is the focal point of the complex, a Ritz-Carlton Hotel, the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton condominiums, and the Nokia Plaza all share the space.
The new L.A. LIVE complex is the high-profile brainchild of world-famous Gensler architects, and as such, the facility features only the finest-quality and best-looking architectural products. Among these products is the stainless steel truss system that laterally braces the JW Marriott lobby glass wall. The system is composed of Ronstan ACS1-SS and ARS1-SS rods and turnbuckles, which employ Ronstan cabling to uphold segments of the south-facing glass façades in a corner-to-corner fashion.
The resulting design is a vertical tower of graceful crisscrossing cable patterns, providing delicate accents to the glass and an engaging geometrical pattern without inhibiting views to the outside. Ronstan provides further lateral support on the north and west-facing glass walls with horizontal bracing cables. The modern-looking system complements the aesthetic of the lobby, which itself pays special attention to geometry, balance, and contemporary style.
“We are very pleased to have been specified on such an important project,” says Andrew Trowbridge, Architectural and Industrial Manager – West Coast at Ronstan International Inc. “It shows the high level of trust that other industry professionals have in our products. I think the Ronstan system works particularly well for this application because it is both reliably strong and seamlessly beautiful.”
The Ronstan-supported glass curtainwall was designed, engineered, and installed by Enclos Corp, a company that specializes in custom façade systems. Enclos has recurrently chosen the Ronstan line because of its sleek aesthetic and supreme functionality. For the JW Marriott, the team was impressed with the easy adjustability of Ronstan products. The SS rods, cables, and turnbuckles feature threaded ends with separate threaded swage forks that allow for an inch of maneuverability, nicely facilitating Enclos’ complex design.
“Everyone on the project team, including Enclos, the architects at Gensler, and Webcor as the general contractor, is very pleased with the curtainwall installation,” says Shital Sanghavi, Project Manager at Enclos Corp. “Ronstan was truly instrumental in providing a high-quality product as well as supplying all the information we needed to carry out the correct application sequence, and the end result is stunning.”
Completed in 2009, the project team consisted of architect Gensler, Los Angeles, CA, glass wall engineer Enclos, San Juan Capistrano, CA, general engineer Nabih Youssef Associates, Los Angeles, CA, and general contractor, Webcor Builders, Los Angeles, CA.
