Pyramid Plaza

The triple towers of Pyramid Plaza are among the most famous landmarks of the Freedom City skyline, not only because they are the tallest buildings in a city of soaring downtown skyscrapers, but also because of the towers’ unique design, making them architectural marvels of the modern era. The towers of Pyramid Plaza are designed so each floor is rotated by a few degrees, causing each tower to appear to “spiral” up into the sky. The towers twist around their central axis, making for an impressive sight that often leaves visitors to the city standing and gawking on the sidewalk.
Pyramid Plaza is located in the heart of Freedom City’s Wading Way business district, and much of the space in the three towers is leased for offices and businesses. The Plaza and its buildings are owned by the wealthy Rhodes Foundation, a multinational investment and management company started in the 1950s by financier Alexander Rhodes. Mr. Rhodes died of a brain aneurism in 1979, just a few years after completion of the Plaza. The current CEO of the Rhodes Foundation is Ms. Sophia Cruz.

Purpose / Function

All three towers in Pyramid Plaza comprise a considerable amount of space. The Rhodes Foundation leases space in the buildings to retail businesses and offices, but also for private residences, a hotel, and a restaurant, as well as public attractions like the observation room atop 2 Pyramid Plaza.
All three towers have four floors of lobby retail space—on floors 1, 23, 45, and 67—and as many as twelve spaces each for retail businesses, typically boutique stores serving people who work and live at the Plaza along with visitors.

1 PYRAMID PLAZA

Tower One has additional retail space on Floors 2 through 5, providing as many as 39 spaces averaging 900 square feet, for a total 35,100 square feet. The first five floors of Tower One are the most active shopping area of the Plaza.
This tower is also home to Pyramid Plaza’s residential space: 23 floors (68-90) of exclusive downtown apartments, ranging from 600-square-foot studios to 4,600-square-foot penthouses. It’s also home to the prestigious Plaza Hotel—16 floors (7-22) plus the hotel lobby on the 6th floor—just above the shopping levels. The Plaza Hotel has 381 rooms and suites, catering primarily to business travelers and tourists. The remainder of Tower One, 42 floors (24-44 and 46-66), is given over to a total of 588,000 square feet of office space.

2 PYRAMID PLAZA

Tower Two of Pyramid Plaza has a total of 1,190,000 square feet of office space on 85 floors (2-22, 24-44, 46-66, 68-89) in addition to the four floors of lobby retail space.
Tower Two is best known for the Observation Room on the 90th floor, affording an all-around view from the top of the tower and the least expensive way of seeing Freedom City from the top of Pyramid Plaza. Tourists can visit the Observation Room for the price of a single-visit or all-day ticket, as opposed to the cost of a reservation at Pharos or the rent on the penthouse at 1 Pyramid Plaza. It’s worth noting the windows of the Observation Room do not open and rooftop access is alarmed and blocked off from casual visitors; a DC 20 Stealth check and a DC 30 Technology check will overcome both.

3 PYRAMID PLAZA

Tower Three also has a total of 1,190,000 square feet office space on 85 floors (2-22, 24-44, 46-66, 68-89) in addition to the four floors of lobby retail space.
Tower Three’s claim to fame is the Pharos restaurant on the 90th floor, affording the most spectacular view of the Freedom skyline to accompany its world-class fine dining. The restaurant’s decor is a combination of art deco with some neoclassical Egyptian touches like lotus columns and palm fronds.

Architecture

The core of each tower consists of three banks of elevators, each consisting of four local cars, serving between 5 and 8 floors, and an express elevator serving the lobby and each of the three sky lobbies.
For instance, to go from hotel room #1019 to apartment #11 on floor 76 of 1 Pyramid Plaza to take advantage of the nearly 270 degree views of the 4th of July fireworks over Riverside Park, you’d take any of the elevators in the western bank down to the Main Lobby. From there, you’d take any of the three express elevators to the 3rd sky lobby (floor 67), and take any of the four local cars in the eastern bank.
The core also includes three stairways serving all floors and mechanical levels and a men’s restroom, a women’s restroom, and a service room for building maintenance on each floor.
Around the core stands a ring of twelve columns—each 4 feet in diameter and roughly 30 feet away from each other center to center—that serve as the main structural support of each floor-plate. Three triangular columns support the areas of the floor-plates outside this ring, one for each point of the triangle, spiraling upward at the same rate—3.75% per floor-plate—as the building overall. All of this is encased in a curtain wall of triangular steel tubes spaced 15 feet apart along each face.
This means the window openings are at most 15 feet wide and 13 feet tall, not counting the depth of the floor plates, which varies between 1.5 feet and 3 feet, depending on the use of the floor. Non-elevator walls are generally 12 inches thick.

History

Construction on the Plaza began in May of 1973, and was by far the most ambitious construction project ever seen in Freedom City at the time. Work was completed in June of 1976, in time for the bicentennial celebration held in Freedom City that July. Alexander Rhodes officially cut the ribbon to open the plaza on June 16th of that year.
Pyramid Plaza suffered its first significant damage in 1979, when the Scions of Sobek used magic to control the Freedom League and caused them to attack the Plaza and its towers. The Scarab and the fledgling psychic hero Brainstorm sacrificed themselves to free the League from the sorcerers’ influence and put a stop to the attack. A massive bronze wall sculpture and plaque depicting the incident was installed in the lobby of 1 Pyramid Plaza in 1981 to honor and commemorate the heroes’ sacrifice. The Freedom League assisted in repairing damage to the Plaza and its buildings.
Several offices in Pyramid Plaza suffered damage in 1989 during a conflict between RIOT and FORCE Ops in 2 Pyramid Plaza. Although Flag-Burner set fire to portions of the tower, fire-control systems and the quick action of the vigilante heroes prevented the damage from being worse than it might have been. RIOT’s objective at the Plaza was never entirely clear.
Like most of Freedom City, Pyramid Plaza suffered significant damage during the Terminus Invasion in 1993. To the credit of its builders, the Plaza remained standing, although there was concern over structural integrity. Dr. Metropolis repaired all damage to Pyramid Plaza later that year, along with restoring much of Freedom City’s urban area using his powers.
Since its restoration, Pyramid Plaza has remained a fixture of the Freedom City skyline and its business district. It remains one of the most prestigious downtown addresses for businesses, residents, and shops, and a popular destination for tourists visiting the city.

Type

Tower