Bank of California Building (Los Angeles, California)
| Company type | Hotel |
|---|---|
| Industry | Hospitality |
| Predecessor | Superior Oil Company Building, The Standard Downtown LA |
| Founded | 2002 (as The Standard Downtown LA hotel) |
| Defunct | 2020 (as The Standard Downtown LA hotel) |
| Fate | Reopened as Delphi Hotel in 2023 |
| Successor | Delphi Hotel |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles , United States |
Area served | Downtown Los Angeles |
| Products | Hotel accommodations, rooftop pool and bar, dining venues |
| Owner | Columbia Development (as of 2000 purchase) |
| Website | www |
The Delphi Hotel occupies a 12-story structure located at 550 S Flower St in Downtown Los Angeles. This building, originally known as the Superior Oil Company Building, was the former headquarters of the now-defunct Superior Oil Company and is distinguished by its marble exterior. After being transformed into The Standard Downtown LA hotel in 2002, it ceased operations in 2020 and later reopened in 2023 under its present name.
Office building
Erected between 1955 and 1956 by the Keck family, the Superior Oil Company Building served as the corporate headquarters for Superior Oil Company. The building, designed by Claud Beelman in the Late Moderne style and constructed by The William Simpson Construction Company, stands twelve stories tall and showcases materials such as marble, granite, and stainless steel. Architectural details include Superior Oil branding elements like stylized "S" door handles and a bas-relief metal artwork depicting an oilfield above the entrance on Flower Street. It is recognized as a significant example of postwar modernist corporate architecture.
The LA Conservancy has praised it as "one of the finest examples of the Corporate Moderne style in Los Angeles" and highlights it as a prominent project from Beelman’s later professional period. Its structural system employs a steel frame with a "pier and spandrel" configuration, featuring white marble-clad piers complemented by ribbed stainless-steel spandrels that emphasize vertical lines.
In 1963, the building became the southern California headquarters for the Bank of California, temporarily adopting the name Bank of California Building. The premises were vacated in 1992 following the bank’s merger into Union Bank of California.
Downtown Standard Hotel
By the year 2000, there were growing concerns that the empty building might be repurposed as a telecommunications switching center. In January 2000, Union Bank of California sold the property to Columbia Development, a hotel investment and development company based in Manhattan Beach, led by William Gustafson and Mark Neumann. With backing from local preservation advocates, this project marked downtown Los Angeles’ first major hotel development in almost ten years.
Columbia Development collaborated with Bear Stearns, JPMorgan Partners, and Standard Holdings to convert the office tower into a hotel managed by The Standard Hotels group, headed by Andre Balazs, which had debuted its initial boutique hotel in Hollywood in 1999. The redesign was carried out by Koning Eizenberg Architecture, Inc., with construction overseen by Sam Martel of Taisei Construction. Historical preservation consulting was provided by Christy McAvoy from Historical Resources Group.
Opening its doors in May 2002, The Standard Downtown LA offered 207 boutique-style rooms along with amenities such as a rooftop pool and bar featuring DJ performances and poolside events, a beer garden, ping pong club, 24-hour coffee shop, and a lobby lounge. In 2011, Los Angeles Weekly ranked its rooftop restaurant fifth among dining venues situated within architecturally significant buildings across Los Angeles. Unique features include three water-bed cabanas enclosed within distinct plastic pods at the rooftop pool.
In 2003, the building earned placement on the National Register of Historic Places due to its notable moderne architectural style and engineering significance. That same year, The Standard Hotel Downtown received an award from the Los Angeles Conservancy recognizing its successful preservation and revitalization of this 1955 modernist skyscraper on Flower Street.
In 2009, accusations were brought against the hotel operator for improper disposal of pool chemicals; The Standard Hotel admitted guilt in 2010. A fatal shooting occurred outside the hotel lobby in 2015, which resulted in a lawsuit filed in 2016 alleging insufficient security measures at the property. Beginning in May 2017, Smorgasburg LA food festival initiated a rooftop pop-up residency at the hotel.
The Standard temporarily ceased operations at the start of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was announced in December 2021 that this closure would become permanent effective January 22, 2022.
Delphi Hotel
On April 1, 2023, the establishment resumed operations under the name Delphi Hotel.
In popular culture
- The entrance and facade of the building were portrayed as the fictional Brent Building in the television series Perry Mason (1957–1966), with Mason's office situated in Suite 904.
- The structure is visible in a 6000 SUX car advertisement featured in the 1987 movie RoboCop.
- Key scenes from the 2005 motion picture Kiss Kiss Bang Bang were filmed within and around the hotel's lobby, guest accommodations, café, as well as its rooftop bar and pool area.
- The building makes an appearance in the 2010 film Get Him to the Greek.
- In the 2015 disaster film San Andreas, it is shown collapsing amid an earthquake.
- The building is also seen in the 2018 film Under the Silver Lake.
See also
External links
- Buildings and structures in Downtown Los Angeles
- Skyscraper hotels in Los Angeles
- Oil company headquarters in the United States
- ExxonMobil buildings and structures
- Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments
- Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles
- Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles
- Office buildings completed in 1956
- 1955 establishments in California
- 1950s architecture in the United States
- Modernist architecture in California
- Hotels established in 2002
- Hotels established in 2023
- Hotel buildings completed in 1956
- Bank buildings in Los Angeles