Coca-Cola Bottling headquarters ship building

Los Angeles, California, United States

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The Coca-Cola Building on South Central Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, nicknamed 'The Ship', is a designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. In November 2025 the City of Los Angeles said Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling had begun a $47.5 million revitalization of the building ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The city describes it as the last bottling facility in Los Angeles.

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Coca-Cola Bottling headquarters ship building

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Site-level location · 34.0286° N, 118.2450° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

A bottling plant in downtown Los Angeles was dressed up as an ocean liner, and it is still a working plant.

The Architect's Newspaper reports that the building was designed by architect Robert V. Derrah and dates the design to 1939; The Real Deal says the design dates from 1936 and the building was completed three years later. The Architect's Newspaper calls it an example of Streamline Moderne, a style it describes as defined by aerodynamic forms and nautical motifs. It has a prow cutting a sharp line into the sky and porthole windows, and it wraps around earlier factory structures, turning them into a composition with promenade decks, catwalks and a bridge-like crown. The Real Deal reports decorations inside like life preservers reading "S.S. Coca-Cola".

A city marker erected in 1975 on Central Avenue records the building as Historic-Cultural Monument No. 138, declared by the Cultural Heritage Board. The Mayor's office describes the building's flagship facade as having received landmark status in 1976, a year later than the marker, and says Coca-Cola's presence downtown began in 1902.

The mayor's office calls Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling the last bottling facility in the City of Los Angeles. In late 2025, Reyes launched a $47.5 million revitalization to modernize the facility, with a new training space, improved offices and a rooftop patio, ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Real Deal reported in October 2025 that Reyes was looking to restore the windows to Derrah's original design. The Architect's Newspaper reports that Gensler is leading the work, including restoration of the metal facade, and that the exterior was planned to be finished before the 2026 World Cup and the interior before the 2028 Games. In May 2026 Reyes reported the project on schedule.

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WHAT TO EXPECT

An active industrial bottling plant, not open to the public for tours; the building's exterior nautical architecture is visible from South Central Avenue.

ACCESS

1200-1334 S. Central Ave, Los Angeles, CA -- exterior viewable from the public street; interior is a working, non-public bottling facility.

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