Step through a dull brick front and the building opens into light: an atrium of iron, marble and a glass roof.
At a glance
The Bradbury Building in downtown Los Angeles, finished in 1893, keeps its wonder hidden. The street front is ordinary brick and sandstone; inside is a five-storey court roofed in glass, ringed by open-cage lifts, ornate iron railings and marble stairs. George Wyman designed it, and it has drawn architects and filmmakers ever since.
Key facts
- Location: 304 South Broadway, Los Angeles
- Architect: George Wyman
- Completed: 1893
- Highlight: a sky-lit iron-and-glass interior court
- Today: offices, with the lobby open to visitors
History
The mining millionaire Lewis Bradbury wanted a grand office building and turned, the story goes, to a young draughtsman, George Wyman, who took the work after his employer. Wyman, it is said, was inspired by a utopian novel that imagined buildings filled with light.
Completed in 1893, the court became a downtown landmark. After decades of decline it was restored, and its atrium has appeared in many films, most famously as a haunting backdrop in Blade Runner.
What you see
The court is the whole experience: daylight pours through a vast glass roof onto cream brick, pink marble and a filigree of iron. Open lifts rise in their cages; stairs climb past polished rails. After the plain street front, the effect is theatrical, a building that saves everything for the inside.
Practical information
- Open: lobby and lower stairs open to visitors in business hours
- Cost: free to enter the lobby
- Best for: the sky-lit atrium and ironwork
- Time needed: 15–20 minutes
Getting there
The building is on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, opposite Grand Central Market and a short walk from the Pershing Square metro station.
Nearby
- Grand Central Market — the food hall across Broadway
- Angels Flight — the historic funicular up Bunker Hill
Sources
- Encyclopædia Britannica / Wikipedia — Bradbury Building
- Los Angeles Conservancy / NPS — landmark record
- Wikimedia Commons — image source and licence
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