Bank of America World Headquarters

• Transcendence — Masayuki Nagare
  Black granite; Located at the west side of elevated plaza; artwork is always accessible.
  Installed 1969.

1. 1967

   Bank of America world headquarters, designed by Edward Charles Bassett of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. With Wurster, Bernardi & Emmons and consulting architect Pietro Belluschi.

   Architecture, Planning & Preservation Professionals: A Collection of Biographies, adopted 2021
2. 1967

   The Bank of America world headquarters, completed 1967 to designs by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Wurster, Bernardi & Emmons with Pietro Belluschi as consulting architect, and a plaza by Lawrence Halprin. At fifty-two storeys it was the tallest building in San Francisco.

   Modern Architecture and Landscape Design Context Statement, adopted 2011
3. 1969

   Built.

4. Sep 1981

   Permit 8108282 $$$ $30,000

   Additions alterations or repairs.

5. circa 1984

   Photographed, showing the Bank of America Headquarters building.

   San Francisco Subjects Photograph Collection (SFP 162), San Francisco Public Library
6. May 2007

   Permit 200705292431 $$$ $3,000,000

   Oti-1, ha 555 owners llc, 32nd floor, el, ls, sp.

7. Dec 2007

   Permit 200712069824 $$$ $5,250,000

   18th floor: full floor t.i. for minor demolition, construction new partitions, acoustic ceiling, mep, millwork & finishes. (life safety & sprinklers under separate permit.).

8. Nov 2012

   Permit 201211214715 $$$ $2,800,000

   Partial demolition and new fit out of existing tenant. new fit of main reception, restrooms, private offices, pantry, conference and supporting spaces. fire alaarm & sprinkler under separate permis.

9. Jun 2014

   Permit 201406300034 $$$ $1,500,000

   35 & 36/f -tenant improvements for morgan stanley including building architectural, mep scope of work. interior renovation & expansion with existing build at 35th fl & 36th fl.

10. Nov 2015

    Permit 201511203197 $$$ $2,859,840

    13th floor - demolition existing non-structural partitions, doors/frames, millwork, ceiling grid & tile, lighting, power & finishes. new non-structural partitions, doors/frames, ceilings, lighting. no change in occupancy, no change in floor area. life safety & fire sprinklering is design build under separate.

11. Feb 2016

    Permit 201602290729 $$$ $2,859,840

    12th fl. demoltion of existing non-structural partitns, doors/frames, millwork, ceiling grid & tile, lighting, power & finishes. nw non-structural partitions. doors/frames, cieling, lighting, & finishes. no change in occupancy & no change in floor area. l/s, fire sprkl under seprte permit. n/a for maher.

12. Jun 2016

    Permit 201606139733 $$$ $5,128,000

    Concourse- non-structural demolition, new non structural partitions, lighting, millwork, finishes. life safety & sprinkler under separate permit. structural scope for pivoting door system and wood slat wall as defferred submittal. no change in occupancy, area or use. n/a ordinance #155-13.

13. Sep 2016

    Permit 201609016578 $$$ $3,300,000

    29/f- interior ti of offices, conference rooms, pantry. minor demolition. new drywall partitions, ceiling, mep, millwork & finishes. no exterior, hazmat or structural work.

14. Jun 2019

    Permit 201906173527 $$$ $2,600,000

    18th fl - interior ti improvement to existing 18th fl new partitions, doors, walls, ceiling fixture & millwork. meps included. life safety & sprinklers under separate permit.

15. Jun 2021

    Permit 202106243139 $$$ $2,793,670

    9/f: full floor single t.i. inlcuding new partitions, lighting and millwork, . no structural work and no change of use. deffered mep work.

16. Jun 2021

    Permit 202106253245 $$$ $2,793,670

    8th floor full floor single tenant improvement including new partitions, lighting, and millwork. no structural work. no change of use. deferred mep.

17. Jul 2021

    Permit 202107194625 $$$ $3,008,592

    10th floor - t.i. full floor single tenant improvement. new patitions, lightings, and millwork. no structural works and no change of use. deffered mep work.

18. Jul 2021

    Permit 202107194659 $$$ $3,008,592

    4th floor: full floor single tenant improvement. including new partitions, lighting and millwork. no structural work and no change of use. deffered mep work.

19. Sep 2021

    Permit 202109178673 $$$ $3,008,592

    7/f: full floor single tenant improvement including new partitions, lithgting and millwork. no change ofuse. deffered mep work. maher n/a.

20. Aug 2022

    Permit 202208190901 $$$ $3,120,000

    27/f: commercial t.i. new non-structural partitions, new acoustal ceilings, new finishes, new lighting, new restrooms including mep work and new fsd's.

21. Aug 2024

    Permit 202408168893 $$$ $3,008,592

    6th/f t.i. included new partitions, lighting, power, furniture, equipment. mep deferred for separate permit app.

22. Oct 2024

    Permit 202410213343 $$$ $2,500,000

    T.i. consists of office remodel with new office, meeting room, work rooms, break room, and pantry. new led lighting & finises throughout. d.a. upgrades to restrooms. mechanical work, duct redistribution and addition of equipment electrical work: new led lighting & controls, new isms system.

23. May 2025

    Issued Permit 202505096128 $$$ $4,360,000

    52nd fl: tenant improvement. new partitions, ceilings, finishes with associated mep.

24. Oct 2025

    Issued Permit 202510157422 $$$ $2,891,600

    23/f: demolition of non-structural partitions and doors/frames, construction of demising partitions, non-rated multi tenant hallway and buildback of restrooms, passenger elevator lobby and freight elevator lobby. no change in occupancy, use or floor area. ref permit application 202508284089.

25. Oct 2025

    Issued Permit 202510217842 $$$ $5,314,000

    46/fl- partitions, ceilings, fixtures, finishes and associated mep.

26. Dec 2025

    Issued Permit 202512010639 $$$ $5,314,000

    45th fl - tenant improvement partitions, ceiing & finishes.

27. Dec 2025

    Filed Permit 202512161909 $$$ $5,419,764

    L41: ti. non-structural partitions, finishes, millwork, ceilings for new offices, meeting rooms and break areas.

28. Mar 2026

    Issued Permit 202603238106 $$$ $8,285,917

    31/fl- remodel existing office space, propsed ti work entails new non bearing partitiosn, millwork, ceiling system with new lighting, power and communication fixtures and furniture systems. floor and wall finishes.

29. Jul 2026

    Issued Permit 202607144994 $$$ $3,800,000

    50th floors: office t.i - new partitions and offices. new finishes on existing stairs between 50 and 51 floors. mep deferred. ref demolition permit 202606092855.

DBI holds 2,122 permits for this parcel, most of them tenant improvements on individual floors. The timeline shows the 24 largest by stated cost, plus the earliest on file; the DBI query in the sources below returns all 2,122. 9 of them are nominal $1 street-space or sidewalk permits. This building's context statement dates the work 1967; the assessor's roll records the parcel as built 1969. The statement gives the completion date as 1969 in three places and 1967-9 in a fourth.

Masayuki Nagare carved Transcendence from 200 tons of black Swedish granite for A. P. Giannini Plaza. The San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen gave it the name the city has used since. Nagare was born at Nagasaki on 14 February 1923 and died on 7 July 2018.

The tower was the tallest building west of the Mississippi until the Transamerica Pyramid passed it in 1972. In April 2018 the United States Geological Survey listed it among 39 San Francisco high-rises whose welded steel frames could be compromised in a strong earthquake.