Walt Disney Concert Hall

Los Angeles, CA

Mason Contractor: DBM/Hatch, Inc.
Architect: Frank O. Gehry & Associates Inc.

Project Description

This unique project was designed by frank Gehry and associates. The structure was designed to look like a ship with its sail at full mast with the base of the building the hull of the ship. The base, which is five stories tall in some areas is veneered with two inch thick Anamosa stone quarried in Iowa. Its 57,313 Square feet of stone represent over 26,000 pieces. The stone is two inches thick and is anchored with a design not used before in a seismic area utilizing a brick anchor with a one inch open cavity laid like a brick in mortar. The corners and Jambs were increased to three inches to show a larger stone return. The bond is a staggered four inch offset which created over 1,600 cut tickets for the stone manufacture sizing. Stone masonry on this project was 1.6 million dollars. A full scale mock up was tested to ensure the design would work with a two inch stone in a seismic area.

Even though the metal roof is the main architectural feature of this project the stone base creates mass and is used to bring the artistic roof to life.

Over 100 million dollars was donated by the Disney family to cover some of the cost of the project whose general contractor was M.A. Mortenson.