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Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
Los Angeles, California
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> Case Studies: Religious Structures> Cathedral of Our Lady of the
Angels
Concrete Architecture to Service More Than 4 Million
Catholics
 The
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels is the third largest cathedral
(195,000 sf) in the world and the first Catholic cathedral that
has been built in the Western United States in over thirty years.
Representing the largest use of exposed architectural concrete in
California, this landmark cathedral is the first seismically base-isolated
major new religious structure. It is also flanked by a freestanding
160’ tall campanile (bell tower), that is also base-isolated.
Suited for 6,000 people, the adjacent 2.5-acre grand public plaza
is used for liturgical, cultural and civic events. It is dotted
with artwork and also provides a conference center, a clerical residence
and a three-level subterranean parking garage for 600 cars.
Soaring to a height equivalent to 150 feet, the $144.3 million cathedral
has seating for 3,000 people. It offers a 58,000 square-foot nave,
giving visitors an unparalleled spiritual experience. Light floods
through the window silhouette of a large concrete cross above the
Altar. The stunning space is illuminated by windows composed of
24,000 feet of thinly veined Spanish alabaster. Stairs lead to the
basement housing the St. Vibiana's Chapel and the Mausoleum which
is one of the largest cathedral burial vaults in the world.
 The
entire construction site for the cathedral sits atop the Elysian
Park Fault, which is expected to produce severe ground motion (up
to a 7.0 magnitude) in the event of an earthquake. To counter this
threat, the project team utilized and implemented advanced strategies
with concrete shear walls to achieve a 500-years service life for
the structure and building systems. The resulting building sits
on base isolators (149 replaceable rubber bearings and 47 flat-slide
bearings), which means the entire building can move about 27 inches
in each direction during earthquakes.
 The
campanile structural system consists of cast-in-place concrete slabs
and beams spanning between colored architectural concrete walls.
Friction Pendulum Bearings were used to support the campanile at
four bearing points, each in the middle of an 80” diameter
stainless steel saucer.
 Lightly
colored, sandblasted architectural concrete was selected for the
450,000 sf exterior and interior wall surfaces of the cathedral
itself and for the additional 200,000 sf of walls in the surrounding
buildings. 59,580 cubic yards of concrete was cast, of which 52%
represented adobe color with precise shingle pattern. The walls
varied in thickness from one to five feet and pitch at angles ranging
from vertical to 30 degrees from the horizontal, with no two walls
intersecting at 90 degrees. This complex configuration resulted
in 850 different corner conditions.
As a symbol of timelessness, the Cathedral construction aimed for
extraordinary material durability beyond the robust walls and seismic
isolators in one of the smoggiest urban cores of the nation. To
ensure longevity, measures included a restriction of the water-cementitious
materials ratio to maximum of 0.45, a light-colored pozzolanic admixture
to protect the concrete from chemical attacks and an additional
1 in. of concrete cover for the reinforcing bars. In addition to
the synthetic fibers and high-silane content sealers, stainless
steel was specified for the reinforcement at the horizontal surfaces,
for the tie wires and for the waterstops at predetermined construction
joints.
The procedures used for concrete-mix design, forming, placing and
curing were developed during a year of research with help from UC
Berkeley. Extensive mock-up testing with special attention to thermal
stresses and formwork removal was used to mediate unforeseen conditions.
As a result of an outstanding collaborative effort of the construction/design/
research team, this Cathedral opened in 2002 with exceptional quality.
It will serve as a sacred edifice as well as an emergency shelter
for centuries to come.
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| Owner/Developer:
Archdiocese of Los Angeles, CA
Design Architect: Jose Rafael Moneo,
Madrid, Spain
Executive Architect: Leo A. Daly
Los Angeles, CA
Structural Engineer: Nabih Youssef
& Associates
Los Angeles, CA
General and Concrete Contractor: Morley
Construction Company
Santa Monica, CA
Ready-Mixed Concrete Producer: Catalina
Pacific Concrete, Azusa, CA
Date of Completion: September, 2002
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