Hughes Aircraft Company, Cargo Building, 6775 Centinela Avenue, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA

Significance: Known to posterity as the structure where the famed "Spruce Goose" was built, the monumental Building 15 is constructed entirely of wood and consists of two parallel gabled hangar bays, designated north and south, which are joined to form a single rectangular building. With an overall length of 742 ft, a width of 248 ft, and a height of 73 ft, or six stories at the peaks of its double gabled roof, it is one of the largest all-wood structures ever built. The primary structural components consist of two rows of 38 enormous laminated rigid wooden arches placed side by side to form identical, contiguous clear span bays. Fabricated in two pieces, the shallow pointed arches taper at the peak, creating gently pitched gables. A three story freestanding structure framed with substantial sawn timbers straddles the centerline of the building where the arches meet, physically separating the two mammoth hangar bays.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N1612
Survey number: HAER CA-174-J
Building/structure dates: 1943 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1950 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1971 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1979 Subsequent Work