The Reef is a $1.2 billion redevelopment project located just south of Downtown Los Angeles with more than 1,400 apartments and condos, a full-service hotel and 120,000 square feet of retail/commercial space. The complex is being marketed as a ‘creative habitat’ to attract culturally diverse, artisanal designers and creators looking to setup shop or simply a place to call home.

This massive complex is also home to the world’s largest (out-of-home) digital billboard wrapping around the top three sides of the main building’s façade. At over 40,000 square feet it has three separate faces, each one measuring 55 feet high and 736 feet wide. The sheer size and positioning provides digital advertisers maximum viewing distance from not only two major intersecting freeways but also from the Staples Center, home of the 2020 NBA World Champion Los Angeles Lakers.

The installation of each digital panel required large, custom built hot-dip galvanized tube steel frame assemblies with cross bracing and heavy plate assemblies to permanently anchor them in place on each side of the building. The hot-dip galvanizing of these massive tube steel frames required acute angling when hanging each one on the dip rack, as well as numerous extra holes to ensure optimal venting and draining of the material. In addition, expedited processing and delivery of the material was required ensuring that critical nighttime erection schedules were met at the jobsite. After install and inspection, the high-tech digital billboard was put into operation, delivering over 173 million impressions every week to the greater population travelling around downtown Los Angeles.

As hot-dip galvanizers we are proud to have contributed to the construction of this high-profile project by providing a maintenance-free zinc coating that will extend the steel framing’s service life by sheltering it from the downtown area’s harsh corrosive environment.