Transamerica Pyramid
- Architect
- William Pereira
- Year
- 1969
- Style
- Neo-Futurism
- City
- San Francisco, CA
The Transamerica Pyramid at 600 Montgomery Street is a pyramid-shaped, 48-story modernist skyscraper designed by William Pereira, built by Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Company, and completed in 1972 at 853 feet -- on completion the eighth-tallest building in the world and San Francisco's tallest until 2017. Its distinctive form made it a typological first for the city's skyline and a fixture of Transamerica Corporation's logo even after the company moved its headquarters to Baltimore.
the building
The pyramid form. Rising to 853 feet as a tapering pyramid rather than a conventional tower, the building was a striking departure from the boxy modernist skyscrapers of its era, giving San Francisco a silhouette unlike any other American skyline.
Ownership changes. Transamerica Corporation moved its U.S. headquarters to Baltimore but kept the pyramid on its logo. The building was sold in 2020 to New York investor Michael Shvo, who in 2022 hired Norman Foster to redesign the interiors and renovate the building; as of April 2026 it was acquired by Yoda PLC, a Cyprus-based firm led by Ioannis Papalekas.
the style
The Transamerica Pyramid is built in a futurist idiom, its tapering pyramid form breaking from the rectilinear glass-box vocabulary that dominated American skyscraper design when it was completed in 1972.
More on Neo-Futurismthe architect
William Pereira designed the Transamerica Pyramid, completed in 1972 at 853 feet, then the eighth-tallest building in the world.
significance
The Transamerica Pyramid was San Francisco's tallest building from its 1972 completion until 2017 and remains the second tallest in the skyline.
nearby
- Bank of Italy Building
- Colombo Building
- Fugazi Bank Building
- Italian American Bank
- Federal Reserve Bank Building
- International Hotel