U.S. Bank Tower

About U.S. Bank Tower

US Bank Tower, formerly Library Tower and First Interstate Bank World Center, is a 1,018-foot (310 m) skyscraper at 633 West Fifth Street in downtown Los Angeles, California. It is the tallest building in California, the tenth tallest in the United States, the tallest west of the Mississippi River, and the 56th tallest building in the world, by pinnacle height. Because local building codes require all high-rise buildings to have a helipad, it was known as the tallest building in the world with a roof-top heliport from its completion in 1989 to 2004 when Taipei 101 opened. It is also the second tallest building in a major active seismic region; its structure was designed to resist an earthquake of 8.3 on the Richter scale. It consists of 73 stories above ground and two parking levels below ground. Construction began in 1987 with completion in 1989. The building was designed by Henry N. Cobb of the architectural firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners and cost $350 million to build. It is one of the most recognizable buildings in Los Angeles, often used in establishing shots for the city in films and television programs.

History

The building is also known as Library Tower because it was built as part of the $1 billion Los Angeles Central Library redevelopment area following two disastrous fires in 1986, and its location across the street.[9] The City of Los Angeles sold air rights to the developers of the tower to help pay for the reconstruction of the library. The building was also known for a time as First Interstate Bank World Center but the name Library Tower was restored after First Interstate Bancorp merged with Wells Fargo Bank. In March 2003 the property was leased by U.S. Bancorp and the building was renamed U.S. Bank Tower. Residents, however, generally continue to refer to it as Library Tower.

The tower has a large glass crown at its top that is illuminated at night. The crown is lighted with red and green during the Christmas holiday season and lit red around Saint Valentine's Day. It is also lit with purple and gold when the Los Angeles Lakers are playing in the NBA Playoffs and blue and white on Opening Day for the Los Angeles Dodgers and when the Dodgers are playing in the playoffs. The crown was also lit with red, white and blue during the July 4 holidays, but that practice ended in 2003.

On February 28, 2004, two 23 m (75 ft) “U.S. Bank” logo signs were installed on the crown, amid controversy for their effect on the aesthetic appearance of the building, much like the previous First Interstate Bank logos were placed on the crown between 1990 and 1998. First Interstate Bank's “I” logo on the crown was in the 1993 Guinness Book of World Records for highest placed logo.

Terrorist target

On June 16, 2004, the 9/11 Commission reported that the original plan for the September 11 attacks called for the hijacking of ten planes, one of which was to be crashed into the building.

On October 6, 2005, House officials stated that the government had foiled a previously undisclosed second plot to crash a plane into the building in mid-2002. In his televised 2006 State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush asserted that American counterterrorism officials foiled a plot to fly planes into the tower, which he erroneously identified as “Liberty Tower”. According to President Bush, Al-Qaeda leader Khaled Sheikh Mohammed's plan was to use Asian confederates from Jemaah Islamiyah recruited by Islamic militant Hambali for the hijacking. President Bush asserted the hijackers were going to use shoe bombs to breach the plane's cockpit door. Some counter-terrorism experts have expressed doubt that the plot was ever fully developed or likely to occur.

Ocean Heights

About Ocean Heights

Ocean Heights is a supertall residential skyscraper in Dubai Marina, Dubai, UAE. The tower stands 310 m (1,017 ft) tall with 83 floors. The tower is designed by Andrew Bromberg of Aedas. The building was topped-out on 22 December 2009, and completed in 2010. Currently Ocean Heights is the fifth tallest residential building in the world, and fourth tallest residential building in Dubai, behind The Marina Torch, and HHHR Tower.

The tower, with its unique curves and twisting motion as one ascends, is actually the third version of the tower proposed by DAMAC Properties Co. The first version had the tower at a much shorter 38 floors, the second had 50. The 83 floor tower houses more than 519 condominiums and is located along Al Sufouh Road in Dubai Marina.

Pearl River Tower

About Pearl River Tower

Pearl River Tower is a 71-story, 309.7 m (1,016 ft), clean technology skyscraper at the junction of Jinsui Road/Zhujiang Avenue West, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, China. The tower's architecture and engineering were performed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill with Adrian D. Smith and Gordon Gill (now at their own firm, AS+GG) as architects. Ground broke on the tower on the 8th of September 2006 and construction was completed in March 2011. It is intended for office use and is partially occupied by the China National Tobacco Corporation.

Architecture and design

The design of the Pearl River Tower is intended to minimise harm to the environment and it will extract energy from the natural and passive forces surrounding the building. Major accomplishments are claimed to be the technological integration of form and function in a holistic approach to engineering and architectural design.

Sustainability

The building is designed with energy conservation in mind, including wind turbines and solar collectors, photovoltaic cells, raised floors ventilation, and radiant heating and cooling ceilings. It is one of the most environmentally friendly buildings in the world.

Of Pearl River Tower’s accomplishments, many are related to the sustainable design features including:

The largest radiant-cooled office building in the world

Most energy efficient super-tall building in the world

The tower is an example of China’s goal to reduce the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP in 2020 by 40 to 45 percent as compared to the level of 2005.

In a report presented at the 2008 Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat it was reported that the buildings sustainable design features will allow a 58% energy usage reduction when compared to similar stand alone buildings. The building would have been able to be carbon neutral and actually sold power back to the surrounding neighborhood if the micro-turbines had been installed into the building. However the local power company in Guangzhou does not allow independent energy producers to sell electricity back to the grid. Without the financial incentive to add the micro-turbines the developers removed them from the design. If they had been added excess power would have been produced from the building, at the very least, after office hours when the power needed by the building itself had been reduced.

Timeline

Fall 2005 : Design Competition
8 September 2006 : Ground Breaking Ceremony
November 2006 : Enabling Works
18 July 2007 : Public bidding for the construction
January 2008 : Main Package construction begins −26.2 m (−86 ft)
August 2008 : Building Core construction reaches ground level 0 m (0 ft)
April 2009 : 15th Level 80.6 m (264 ft)
November 2009: Glass curtainwall installation begins
December 2009: Building reaches upper wind turbine level
28 March 2010: Topped-out

Franklin Center

About Franklin Center
 
The Franklin Center is a 60-story skyscraper completed in 1989 as the AT&T Corporate Center to consolidate the central region headquarters of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T). It stands at a height of 1,007 ft (307 m) and contains 1,700,000 sq ft (160,000 m2) in the Loop neighborhood of downtown Chicago. It is located two blocks east of the Chicago River and northeast of the Willis Tower with a main address of 227 West Monroe Street and an alternate address of 100 South Franklin Street. in the Loop community area of downtown Chicago.

The supertall building is the tallest constructed in Chicago in the last quarter of the 20th Century. It is the 5th tallest building in Chicago and the 11th tallest in the United States. It contains office and retail space and a 350-space garage.

Tishman Speyer acquired the property in 2004 and renamed the adjacent USG Building as Franklin Center in 2007 after USG relocated its offices. The name was later applied to the entire complex.

History

In 1982, the American Telephone & Telegraph Company monopoly was dissolved by the court ordered divestiture of local phone companies. In the decade that followed, AT&T erected new buildings across the country including the AT&T Building in New York City. On April 5, 1985, AT&T issued a request for proposals that produced eleven respondents. Stein and Co., the winning realtor, sought Skidmore, Owings and Merrill as designers for the purpose of distinguishing a proposal from the nearby Willis Tower. On April 3, 1989, AT&T employees began to occupy the office space.

The building was built under a self-imposed comprehensive minority contracting and affirmative action package that met the city's 1985 30% hiring rule for public sector projects. Chicago mayor Harold Washington's administration had passed an edict that 30% of the work for public sector projects be set aside for minority and women-owned businesses. In a show of support for this rule Stein & Co. and AT&T adopted the rule for their private development.

Architecture

Designed by Adrian D. Smith of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the Franklin Center, is one of the most famous and recognized buildings in Chicago. The building's form features setbacks at the 15th, 30th and 45th floors. Designed in the postmodern architectural style, it is a granite-clad steel-framed building resting on pile foundations. The structure is characterized by strong vertical lines, spiked roof pinnacles, granite cladding and setbacks. The granite is a deep red color at the base, but changes shade to rose-beige at the top. Above the 5th floor, the lighter rose-beige granite is protected by silk-screened aluminum panels. The building relies on Gothic detailing to showcase verticality. The building's verticality evokes images of 1920s buildings, and the sturdiness of the structure is reminiscent of the Chicago Board of Trade Building. In addition to its design, the building relies on its location at the farthest corner from the Willis Tower to set it apart.

Cayan Tower

About Cayan Tower

Cayan Tower, known as Infinity Tower prior to its inauguration, is a 306 metres (1,004 ft), 80 story skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates by Cayan Real Estate Investment and Development. The tower is designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill SOM architectural group, the same group who did the concept design for the Burj Khalifa also in Dubai and Trump Tower in Chicago. Upon its opening on 10 June 2013, the tower has become world's tallest high rise building with a twist of 90 degrees.
Design

Cayan Tower is designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and its development is carried out by property development company CAYAN. Cayan Tower's apartments are designed with wooden floors, marble counter tops, and kitchen fixtures. The tower also includes a five story parking garage behind it. The Cayan Tower has house financing options available for those residents who may want to lease out their weekend or holiday condo. The rooms of the tower are designed in such a way that it wouldn't be affected by direct sunlight due to titanium metal panels on cast-in-place concrete columns aided with repetitive staggered screen panels to stop penetrating sunlight from disturbing the residents of the unit.

The Shard

About The Shard

The Shard, also referred to as the Shard of Glass, Shard London Bridge and formerly London Bridge Tower is an 87-storey skyscraper in London that forms part of the London Bridge Quarter development. The Shard's construction began in March 2009; it was topped out on 30 March 2012 and inaugurated on 5 July 2012. Practical completion was achieved in November 2012. Its privately operated observation deck, the View from the Shard, opened to the public on 1 February 2013.

Standing approximately 306 metres (1,004 ft) high, the Shard is currently the tallest building in the European Union. It is the second-tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, after the concrete tower at the Emley Moor transmitting station. The glass-clad pyramidal tower has 72 habitable floors, with a viewing gallery and open-air observation deck – the UK's highest – on the 72nd floor, at a height of 244.3 metres (802 ft). It was designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano and replaced Southwark Towers, a 24-storey office block built on the site in Southwark in 1975. The Shard was developed by Sellar Property on behalf of LBQ Ltd and is jointly owned by Sellar Property and the State of Qatar.

Planning

In 1998, London-based entrepreneur Irvine Sellar and his then partners decided to redevelop Southwark Towers following a UK government white paper encouraging the development of tall buildings at major transport hubs. Sellar flew to Berlin in spring 2000 to meet the Italian architect Renzo Piano for lunch. According to Sellar, Piano spoke of his contempt for conventional tall buildings during the meal, before flipping over the restaurant's menu and sketching a spire-like sculpture emerging from the River Thames. He was inspired by the railway lines next to the site, the London spires depicted by the 18th-century Venetian painter Canaletto, and the masts of sailing ships.

In July 2002, the then-Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, ordered a planning inquiry after the Shard development plans were opposed by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment and several heritage bodies, including the Royal Parks Foundation and English Heritage. The inquiry took place in April and May 2003, and on 19 November 2003, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announced that planning consent had been approved. The government stated that:

 Mr Prescott would only approve skyscrapers of exceptional design. For a building of this size to be acceptable, the quality of its design is critical. He is satisfied that the proposed tower is of the highest architectural quality.

Sellar and his original partners CLS Holdings plc and CN Ltd (acting for the Halabi Family Trust) secured an interim funding package of £196 million in September 2006 from the Nationwide Building Society and Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander. This enabled them to pay off the costs already incurred and to buy out the Southwark Towers occupational lease from the building's tenants, PricewaterhouseCoopers. Vacant possession of the site was secured a year later, after PricewaterhouseCoopers completed the relocation of their operations.

In September 2007, preparations for the demolition of Southwark Towers began. However, later in the month, turbulence in the financial markets reportedly put the Shard's construction in jeopardy, threatening to render the project an example of the Skyscraper Index.

In November 2007, building contractor Mace was awarded the contract to build the Shard for a fixed price of no more than £350 million. However, this price increased to almost £435 million in October 2008.

In April 2008, demolition of Southwark Towers was visibly under way, and by October, the building had been substantially reduced in height, and was no longer visible on the skyline. The demolition was completed in early 2009, and site preparation began for the construction of the Shard.

Architecture

Renzo Piano, the project's architect, designed the Shard as a spire-like sculpture emerging from the River Thames. He was inspired by the railway lines next to the site, the London spires depicted by the 18th-century Venetian painter Canaletto, and the masts of sailing ships. Piano's design met criticism from English Heritage, who claimed the building would be "a shard of glass through the heart of historic London", giving the building its name, The Shard. Piano considered the slender, spire-like form of the tower a positive addition to the London skyline, recalling the church steeples featured in historic engravings of the city, and believed that its presence would be far more delicate than opponents of the project alleged. He proposed a sophisticated use of glazing, with expressive façades of angled glass panes intended to reflect sunlight and the sky above, so that the appearance of the building will change according to the weather and seasons. The building features 11,000 panes of glass, with a total surface area of 56,000 square metres (600,000 sq ft).

Following the destruction of the World Trade Center (WTC) in the terror attacks of 11 September 2001, architects and structural engineers worldwide began re-evaluating the design of tall structures. The Shard's early conceptual designs were among the first in the UK to be progressed following the publication of the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) report into the collapse of the WTC. The building was designed to maintain its stability under very onerous conditions, with its post-tensioned concrete and composite floors, load-bearing pillars and tapering shape giving it a sway tolerance of 400 millimetres (16 in).

Construction

2009

In February 2009, a mobile crane and a small piling rig appeared on site. In early March 2009, the crane began putting steel beams into the ground, as part of preparations for the core of the building. Full construction began on 16 March 2009. Demolition work on New London Bridge House started in May 2009, as part of the concurrent London Bridge Place project. The first steelwork went into the Shard's piles on 28 April.

Five cranes were used to build the Shard, with four of them 'jumping' with the tower as it rose. Crane 1 was erected in September 2009 and Crane 2 was erected at the beginning of October. By 20 October 2009, steel beams began appearing on site, with concrete being poured at the northern part of the site, ready for Crane 3.

2010

By March 2010, the concrete core was rising steadily at approximately 3 metres (9.8 ft) a day.[40] After a pause in March–April 2010, it continued rising, reaching the 33rd floor in mid-June, almost level with the top of Guy's Hospital, which stands at 143 metres (469 ft). On 27 July 2010, the core stopped rising, having reached the 38th floor, and was reconfigured for further construction.

By mid-November 2010, the core had reached the 68th floor, with the tower's steel reaching the 40th floor and glass cladding enveloping a third of the building. In late November, the core's height exceeded 235 metres (771 ft), ending One Canada Square's 18-year reign as Britain's tallest building.

2011

The Shard's concrete core topped out at the 72nd floor in early 2011, standing at 245 metres (804 ft). The early part of January 2011 saw the installation of hydraulic screens, which were used to form the concrete floors of the hotel and apartment section of the tower, and rose with the floors up to the 69th floor. On 25 January 2011, the concrete pumps began pouring the first concrete floor at the 41st floor. By the end of February 2011, concrete flooring had risen to the 46th floor, with a new floor being poured on average every week. The cladding of the structure also progressed, mainly on the tower's "backpack".

August 2011 saw steady progress in construction, with cladding enveloping more than half the building's exterior. Pouring of the concrete floors reached the 67th floor, and progression on the tower's cladding reached the 58th floor. By mid-August, the core box had been removed. By 19 September 2011, the tower's steel was approaching the height of the completed core, reaching almost 244 metres (801 ft). On 24 September, a final crane – at the time, the tallest ever built in Britain – was erected to install the skyscraper's upper spire. The spire was pre-fabricated and pre-assembled based upon 3D models, and underwent a "test run" in Yorkshire before being lifted onto the building itself. By late December 2011, the Shard had become the tallest building in the European Union, superseding the Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt, Germany.

2012

The Shard's steel structure was topped out on 30 March 2012, when its 66-metre (217 ft), 500-tonne spire was winched into place. The steel structure thus reached a height of 308.5 metres (1,012 ft). The final 516 panes of glass were added shortly after, topping the tower out at its full height of 306 metres (1,004 ft).

The Shard was inaugurated on 5 July 2012 by the Prime Minister of Qatar, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, in a ceremony attended by Prince Andrew, Duke of York. The inauguration ceremony featured a large laser light show, comprising twelve lasers and 30 searchlights, which illuminated the building on the London skyline. Practical completion of the building was achieved in November 2012.

Height

Standing 306 metres (1,004 ft) at its highest point, and 304.3 metres (998 ft) at the highest point of its steelwork, the Shard became the tallest building in the European Union in December 2011, and the tallest completed building in Europe on 30 March 2012. It thus surpassed Frankfurt's Commerzbank Tower, which, at 259 m (850 ft), was Europe's tallest building between 1997 and 2005. Thereafter, the Shard successively exceeded the heights of three Moscow skyscrapers, the Triumph-Palace, Naberezhnaya Tower, and City of Capitals, each of which had held the European height record for roughly 2.5 years. However, upon its completion in November 2012, Moscow's 339-metre (1,112 ft) Mercury City Tower replaced the Shard as the tallest in Europe. The Shard may eventually be surpassed as the EU's tallest building by the 323-metre (1,060 ft) Hermitage Plaza building, which is planned to be completed in La Défense, Paris, in 2017.

The Shard is the second-tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, after the 330-metre (1,083 ft) concrete transmission tower at Emley Moor. Another London skyscraper, the Pinnacle, was originally proposed to rival the height of the Shard, but was reduced to a height of 288 metres (945 ft) because of concerns from the Civil Aviation Authority.

JPMorgan Chase Tower

About JPMorgan Chase Tower

JPMorgan Chase Tower, formerly Texas Commerce Tower, is a 305.41 m (1,002.0 ft), 75-story skyscraper at 600 Travis Street in downtown Houston, Texas. It is currently the tallest building in the city, the tallest building in Texas, the tallest five-sided building in the world, 13th tallest building in the United States, and the 79th tallest building in the world.

Overview

The tower was built in 1981 as Texas Commerce Tower. It was designed by noted architects I. M. Pei & Partners. In some early plans, the building reached up to 80 stories; however, the FAA expressed concerns that additional height was a risk for aircraft going into and out of nearby William P. Hobby Airport. Nonetheless, when it was completed, it was the eighth tallest building in the world.[citation needed] The building was developed as part of a partnership between Texas Commerce Bank and Khalid bin Mahfouz. It was built on the site where the Uptown Theatre, demolished in 1965, once stood.

Upon its completion, the building surpassed Aon Center in Los Angeles to become the tallest building in the United States west of the Mississippi River, a title it held until Los Angeles's Library Tower, now known as the U.S. Bank Tower, was built in 1990.

JPMorgan Chase Tower is also connected to the Houston Downtown Tunnel System. This system forms a network of subterranean, climate-controlled, pedestrian walkways that link twenty-five full city blocks. The lobby of JPMorgan Chase Tower has been designed to harmonize not only with the height of the structure but also with the portico of Jones Hall, home of the Houston Symphony Orchestra, and which occupies the city block immediately to the west. For that reason, a five-story glass wall supported by a stainless steel space frame spans the entire 85 foot width of the front entrance, making the lobby area light and airy, and opening up the space to the plaza outside. The Tower also includes 22,000 square feet of retail space.

The sky lobby observation deck is located on the 60th floor. The sky lobby acts as a transfer point for persons traveling to the upper (61-75) floors, but also as an observation deck for the public during the working hours of 8:00 a.m. — 5:00 p.m. Monday–Friday, free of charge. One can take the express elevator, providing a panoramic view of the city of Houston thanks to the use of wide glass spans and thirteen-foot ceilings. In the large plaza area at the entrance of the building is a multi-colored sculpture entitled "Personage with Birds", which was designed by painter and sculptor Joan Miró, and which was installed in the plaza in early 1982.

While the tower's name reflects the bank JPMorgan Chase, the only space designated to Chase is a single branch office on the bottom floor. The tower is owned by Prime Asset Management and managed by its original owner, Hines Interests.

Hurricane Ike

On September 13, 2008, many of the tower's windows were blown out as Hurricane Ike moved through the area leaving desks exposed, metal blinds hanging in a twisted heap and smoky black glass covering the streets below. Police were forced to cordon off the area due to the amount of debris lying in the streets.

At first, it was speculated that the glass came off the building due to impact from debris or due to high-speed winds in the confined spaces. However, flying glass debris must be entirely governed by drag and lift forces that overcome gravity for a considerable time period. Also, the high speed in confined spaces theory is not entirely justified since the height of damage seen in the tower exceed too significantly the height of the Chase Center parking garage next to the tower. This theory was proposed because an increase in wind speed produce a drop in external pressure in the side and leeward walls and the pressure inside the building remained normal (high) thus resulting in a force that would overcome design pressures. Other interesting observations include those of ABS Consulting engineers who suggest that glazing damage may have been produced by "organized" vortices produced by the upwind Calpine Center and steady vortices between the Tower and the Chase Center parking garage. The NatHaz Modeling Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame is currently conducting an investigation of the flow field around the structure, modeling the tower and the immediate area surrounding it using Computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Preliminary findings suggest that the localized damage is the result of a confluence of multiple mechanisms arising from the arrangement of nearby buildings, critical flow directionality and the possible entrapment of debris within evolving flow structures.

Baiyoke Tower II

About Baiyoke Tower II

Baiyoke Tower II is an 85-storey, 304 m (997 ft) skyscraper hotel at 222 Ratchaprarop Road in the Ratchathewi district of Bangkok, Thailand. It is the tallest building in the city, and comprises the Baiyoke Sky Hotel, the tallest hotel in Southeast Asia and the seventh-tallest all-hotel structure in the world.

With the antenna included, the building's height is 328.4 m (1,077 ft), and features a public observatory on the 77th floor, a bar called "Roof Top Bar & Music Lounge" on the 83rd floor, a 360-degree revolving roof deck on the 84th floor and the hotel offers 673 guest rooms. Construction on the building ended in 1997, with the antenna being added two years later. The Baiyoke Sky Hotel website notes the height without the antenna as 309 m (1,014 ft), but the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), Emporis and SkyscraperPage note it as 304 m (997 ft).

MahaNakhon by Pace Development currently under construction will be 314 m (1,030 ft) tall measured as height without antenna, replacing Baiyoke II as Thailand's tallest building when completed in 2015. The planned Ocean 1 Tower in Pattaya, currently on hold, will be 367 m (1,204 ft) and so become Thailand's tallest building. It will also be the tallest all-residential building in the world.

Two Prudential Plaza

About Two Prudential Plaza

Two Prudential Plaza is a super-tall skyscraper that was built in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois, United States in 1990. At 995 feet (303 m) tall, it is currently the sixth-tallest building in Chicago and the thirteenth tallest in the United States. The building is also currently the tallest building in the world that is under 1000 feet tall. The building was designed by the firm Loebl, Schlossman & Hackl, with Stephen T. Wright as the principal in charge of design. It has been honored with 8 awards, including winning the Best Structure Award from the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois in 1995.

At the time of completion Two Prudential was the world's tallest reinforced concrete building. Its distinctive shape features stacked chevron setbacks on the north and south sides, a pyramidal peak rotated 45°, and an 80 foot (24 m) spire.

The building is attached to One Prudential Plaza (formerly known as the Prudential Building). Without its spire, the building's height is still slightly greater than that of One Prudential Plaza's pinnacle.

Two Prudential Plaza, along with its sister property One Prudential Plaza, was sold in May 2006 for $470 million to BentleyForbes, a Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm run by Carl Frederick Wehba and his son Carl Frederick Wehba II.

Wells Fargo Plaza

About Wells Fargo Plaza

The Wells Fargo Plaza, formerly the Allied Bank Plaza and First Interstate Bank Plaza, is located at 1000 Louisiana Street in downtown Houston, Texas, in the United States.

This building is currently the 14th-tallest Building in the United States, the second tallest building in Texas and Houston, after Houston's JPMorgan Chase Tower, and the tallest all glass building in the western hemisphere. It is the tallest building named for Wells Fargo.

From street level, the building is 302.4 meters (992 ft) tall and contains 71 floors. It extends four more stories below street level. Only the Wells Fargo Plaza offers direct access from the street to the Houston tunnel system (a series of underground walkways connecting many of downtown Houston's office towers); otherwise, entry points are from street-level stairs, escalators, and elevators located inside buildings that are connected to the tunnel.

Wells Fargo Plaza features a wide variety of fine amenities for its tenants including The Houstonian Lite Health Club located on the 14th floor.

Sky lobbies on the 34/35th and 58/59th floors are publicly accessible and offer views of Downtown Houston. These sky lobbies are served by double-decker elevators and primarily serve as transfer floors to local elevators.

History

It was designed by Richard Keating, FAIA while a partner of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. In 1983 the building lost a large number of windows during Hurricane Alicia. Originally named the Allied Bank Plaza, it was renamed to the First Interstate Bank Plaza in 1988.

In 1993, the Consulate-General of the United Kingdom in Houston leased 9,707 square feet (901.8 m2) in the First Interstate Plaza. In 1995 Koll Real Estate lost the management contract for the First Interstate Plaza. In 1996 NGC Corp. (now Dynegy) leased 260,000 square feet (24,000 m2) in the First Interstate Plaza. The company moved over 700 jobs from a suburban office building along U.S. Route 290 (Northwest Freeway) to the Wells Fargo Plaza.

In 2006, Targa Resources signed an 11 year lease to occupy 101,600 square feet (9,440 m2) of space in the Wells Fargo Plaza. Targa expanded from its subleased space and began to occupy floors 43 through 46. In 2007 CB Richard Ellis became the exclusive leasing agent for Wells Fargo Plaza. As of October of that year the building was 91% leased. The leased space consists mostly of large tenants, with some mid-sized tenants occupying space.

Kingdom Centre

About Kingdom Centre

Kingdom Centre is a 65-storey, 302.3 m (992 ft) skyscraper in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is the second tallest skyscraper in the country, and the world's third tallest building with a hole after the Shanghai World Financial Center and Tuntex Sky Tower.

Besides the shopping mall, Kingdom Tower contains the Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh and state-of-the-art apartments. The 56 m (184 ft) skybridge atop the skyscraper.

The building is situated on 100,000 square metres site with carparking for 3,000 vehicles.

The upper third of the tower features an inverted parabolic arch. The building utilises butt jointed glazing which, combined with the lack of both distinguished floor lines and other tall buildings around it, gives an impression of immense scale and an iconic quality. The lower two thirds were constructed with a reinforced concrete frame while the top third has a tubular steel frame.

The architectural model maker of the Center was Richard Tenguerian.

The Zenith Tower A

About The Zenith Tower A

Busan Haeundae Doosan We’ve the Zenith is a complex of three residential towers which were completed in 2011. With 80 floors and a height of 301m, Tower A is the 8th tallest residential building in the world, and has been officially announced as the second tallest building in Korea, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs. The Haeundae Doosan We’ve the Zenith consists of three residential buildings, a 70, 75 and 80 story building each, with 1,788 households in total and one office building on its 42,500 square metres (457,000 sq ft) site. The total construction work took 48 months from November 2007 to November 2011.

Architecture and design

The curves from the waves of the Haeundae beach, and Mt. Jang contribute to the design of this particular complex, and it is inspired by the shape of flower petals as well. The curved shape of the exterior allows residents to enjoy the spectacular views of Haeundae beach, Nurimaru and Gwangan Bridge at a glance with the maximized size of the windows.

De Stefano & Partners, a world-renowned specialist design firm in a field of high rise architecture, is credited for the architecture of Doosan We’ve the Zenith; Jerde Partnership International designed the commercial building; and the SWA Group, which conducted the landscaping of the U.S. Disney World, carried out landscaping work of Haeundae Doosan We’ve the Zenith.

Structure and safety

A structural health monitoring (SHM) system equipped with state-of-the-art sensors that check wind load and earthquake load to the building in real time has been applied to Haeundae Doosan We’ve the Zenith. The structural design was carried out by U.S. Thornton Tomasetti, a firm that also designed Taipei 101—a famous high-rise building in Taiwan.

The Haeundae Doosan We’ve the Zenith has a refuge area every three floors, which can be utilized as a resting area or a hanging garden under normal circumstances and is used as a refuge space in the event of emergency. To prevent spalling, which is the explosion that can occur when the concrete is exposed to high temperatures, the buildings were built with high strength concrete using a spalling failure prevention method. This technology was recognized with a New Construction Technology Certification from the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs in September 2008.

Aspire Tower

About Aspire Tower

The Aspire Tower, also known as Torch Hotel, is a 300-metre (984 ft) tall skyscraper hotel located in the Doha Sports City complex in Doha, Qatar. Designed by architect Hadi Simaan and AREP and engineer Ove Arup and Partners, the tower served as the focal point for the 15th Asian Games hosted by Qatar in December 2006.

The Aspire Tower is currently the tallest structure and building in Doha and Qatar, but it is expected to be surpassed by the Dubai Towers Doha and the Barwa Tower. The tower has also been known as Khalifa Sports Tower, Doha Olympic Tower or the Torch.

Construction and use

The tower was a landmark of the 2006 Asian Games due to its size and proximity to the main venue, the Khalifa International Stadium. The tower housed the Asian Games flame during the games and holds the record for tallest ever games flame and highest positioning of a games flame, which was visible throughout Doha for the duration of the games. The design employs a concrete core which acts as the primary support. The remainder of the building is a steel structure that cantilevers out from the concrete core. The exterior of the building is covered in a steel mesh which, during the Asian Games, was festively illuminated by vibrant LED lights.

The final form consists of a 1-to-1.8 metre thick, reinforced-concrete cylinder (the core), varying from 12 to 18 metre in diameter, encircled with radiating networks of cantilevered steel beams on each floor of its building modules. The modules themselves are composed of steel columns, metal decking, concrete slabs, and outer tension and compression ring beams, which support glass-paneled outer walls. The bottom of each module is covered with glass fiber reinforced concrete. Beams, as well as steel struts tying all the structural components together, are bolted through the concrete core and hence are anchored into place, transferring vertical loads from perimeter columns and ring beams to the core.

The designer, Simaan, has described the structure as "a celebration of earth and sky" adding that, "the structural steel struts that brace the structure back to the core also act as visual forces which create energy radiating from the center in a centrifugal rise." One of the most interesting features of the tower is the broadcast of videos which was carried out around an 8 metre section of the tower; this was done through the use of Philips technology.

The building was fully completed in November 2007 at a final cost of €133,395,000.

Gran Torre Santiago

About Gran Torre Santiago

The Gran Torre Santiago (Spanish for "Grand Santiago Tower"), previously known as Torre Gran Costanera, is a 64-story tall skyscraper under construction in Santiago, Chile. In 2011 it became the tallest building in South America, and in 2012 the tallest in Latin America. Upon completion it will become the second tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere, behind Q1 in Australia's sixth largest city the Gold Coast, Queensland, just surpassing the Eureka Tower in Australia's second largest city, Melbourne.

Details

Gran Torre Santiago is part of the Costanera Center complex, which will include a shopping mall, two hotels and two additional office towers. Gran Torre Santiago will be 300 metres (980 ft) tall and 64 stories high plus 6 basement floors, with a floor pitch of 4.1 metres (13 ft) and 107.125 m² in area.

Once the tower is completed, there will be nearly 700,000 square meters of building space available built on 47,000 square meters of land. Planners estimate there will be some 240,000 people going to and from the site each day. The tower was designed by the Argentine architect Cesar Pelli of Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, Chilean architects Alemparte Barreda & Asociados, and by the Canadian company Watt International. Structural engineering is performed by the Chilean company René Lagos y Asociados Ing. Civiles Ltda. Salfa Corp. was responsible for its construction. René Lagos, the building’s structural engineer, said in a documentary about the tower, that “if it is well planned and meets all the needs of its users, a high-rise building can be a very good solution to the problem of city border expansion and can improve the quality of life of those who live and work in them.”

Construction

Construction of the building began in June 2006 and was expected to be completed in 2010, but was put on hold in January 2009 due to the global financial crisis of 2008–2009.[8] Construction on the project resumed on 17 December 2009 and it was expected to be inaugurated in 2013.

In early November 2010, standing 205 m tall, it overtook the neighboring Titanium La Portada to become the tallest building in Chile. In February 2011, La Segunda daily reported that, at 226 m tall, the tower had overtaken Caracas's Twin Towers to become the tallest building in South America, while La Tercera newspaper reported in February 2012 that it had achieved that feat on 12 April 2011.

Structural work on the tower was completed in July 2011 and the maximum height of 300 m was achieved on 14 February 2012, becoming the tallest building in Latin America.

First Canadian Place

About First Canadian Place

First Canadian Place is a skyscraper in the financial district of Toronto, Ontario, at the northwest corner of King and Bay streets, and is the location of the Toronto operational head office of the Bank of Montreal. At 298 m (978 ft), it is Canada's tallest skyscraper and the 15th tallest building in North America to structural top (spires) and 9th highest to the roof top, and the 95th tallest in the world. It is the third tallest free-standing structure in Canada, after CN Tower, also in Toronto, and the Inco Superstack in Sudbury, Ontario. The building is owned by Brookfield Office Properties, putting it in co-ownership with the neighbouring Exchange Tower and Bay Adelaide Centre as well as various other office spaces across Downtown Toronto.

History and architecture

First Canadian Place is named for Canada's first bank, the Bank of Montreal. Designed by Bregman + Hamann Architects with Edward Durell Stone as design consultant, First Canadian Place was constructed in 1975 (originally named First Bank Building), on the site of the Old Toronto Star Building. The site was the last of corners of King and Bay to be redeveloped in the 1960s and 1970s, and a major bidding war began over the property. The then little known firm of Olympia and York eventually obtained nearly the whole city block, though the election of reformist mayor David Crombie led to new rules banning skyscrapers and it took three years of lobbying before permission for First Canadian Place was granted. When completed, the building was nearly identical in appearance to Stone's Aon Center in Chicago, Illinois; completed two years previous as the Standard Oil Building, the Chicago tower is of the same floor plan and clad in the same marble, the only overtly visible difference being the vertical orientation of the windows, as opposed to the horizontal run of those on First Canadian Place.

First Canadian Place was the 6th tallest building in the world to structural top (currently 95th) and the tallest building overall outside of Chicago and New York when built in 1975. It was also the tallest building in the Commonwealth of Nations until the completion of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1998. The Bank of Montreal "M-bar" logo at the top of the building was the highest sign in the world from 1975 until overtaken by the sign atop CITIC Plaza in 1997. The roof is still the location of a number of antennas used for radio and television broadcasting. The structure contains 29 elevators, and is one of only a few buildings in the world that uses the double-decked variety, and is connected to the underground PATH system.

Cladding

The same white Carrara marble used on Aon Center was employed as an exterior cladding and interior finish for First Canadian Place, with approximately 45,000 marble panels weighing around 200 to 300 lb (91 to 136 kg) each. Foreshadowing what would take place with First Canadian Place in 2007, one of the marble slabs of Aon Center, when it was named the Standard Oil Building, detached in 1974, falling and penetrating the roof of a neighbouring building, resulting in an eventual recladding of the entire Aon Center in white granite between 1992 and 1994. This problem would surface at First Canadian Place as well, during an intense storm on the evening of 15 May 2007, a 1 by 1.2 m (3 ft 3 in by 3 ft 11 in), 140 kg (310 lb) white marble panel fell from the 60th storey of the tower's southern face onto the 3rd floor mezzanine roof below, causing authorities to close surrounding streets as a precaution.

In late 2009, owner Brookfield Properties announced it would follow the example of Aon Center and replace, over three years, the tower's 45,000 marble panels with new ones in glass (not granite like Aon Center), those on the main expanses with a white ceramic frit and the corners in a bronze tint. Brookfield and the co-owners also launched a multi-faceted rejuvenation program that will include "upgrades to the building's mechanical, electrical, and lighting systems that will redefine the standard for enhanced performance, comfort, and greening". FCP's common areas including upper and lower level entrance and elevator lobbies, the retail concourse and Market Place will also undergo renovation. Natural stone flooring, fritted glass accents, brushed metal handrails, new landscaping, and unique water features will produce an inspired and contemporary new environment. The rejuvenation program design architects are Moed de Armas & Shannon Architects, and Bregman + Hamann Architects are the Architects of Record. The entire project cost is in excess of CA$100 million which will be paid by the owners. This extensive capital improvement project will provide a dramatic new exterior for FCP and eliminate the maintenance costs associated with marble upkeep.

4 World Trade Center

About 4 World Trade Center

4 World Trade Center is a skyscraper that is part of the new World Trade Center complex in New York City. It opened to tenants and the public on November 13, 2013. It is located on the southeast corner of the 16-acre World Trade Center site, where the original nine-story 4 World Trade Center stood. Pritzker Prize-winning architect Fumihiko Maki was awarded the contract to design the building, which will be 978 feet (298 m) tall. As of 2013 it is the second tallest skyscraper in the rebuilt World Trade Center, behind One World Trade Center, although 2 World Trade Center and 3 World Trade Center are planned to surpass the building's height upon completion. The total floor space of the building is expected to include 1.8 million square feet (167,000 square meters) of office and retail space. The building's groundbreaking took place in January 2008.

Original building (1975–2001)

The original 4 World Trade Center was a 9-story low-rise office building completed in 1975 that was 118 ft (36 m) tall and in the southeast corner of the site, in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The building's major tenants were Deutsche Bank (Floor 4, 5, and 6) and the New York Board of Trade (Floors 7, 8, and 9). The building's side facing Liberty Street housed the entrance to The Mall at the World Trade Center on the Concourse level of the WTC. It was damaged beyond repair as a result of the September 11 attacks and was later demolished to make way for the construction of the new skyscrapers, Four World Trade Center and Three World Trade Center. 4 World Trade Center was home to five commodities exchanges on what was at the time one of the world's largest trading floors (featured in the Eddie Murphy movie Trading Places). The new Four World Trade Center and Three World Trade Center will stand where 4 World Trade Center formerly stood.

Construction

Groundbreaking took place in 2008. The building reached street level in November 2009. The safety cocoon was installed December 2010. The first glass was installed May 2011. In November 2010, three PureCell fuel cells were delivered at the World Trade Center site which together will provide about 30% of the tower’s power. The structural engineer for the building is Leslie E. Robertson Associates, New York City.

On February 16, 2012, one of the building's construction crane cables snapped while lifting steel, causing the steel to fall 40 stories from the building, landing on a flat bed truck. No injuries were reported. Construction on the building eventually resumed after the accident.

The construction history at the 4 World Trade Center site includes these milestones:

June 25, 2012: steel topped out at floor 72

November 13, 2013: building opens

In September 2013, it was announced that all construction fencing surrounding 4 World Trade Center will be removed, instead of minimal removal only providing a pathway to and from the street and doors of the building. The removal of all fencing will provide pedestrian access to the Memorial Plaza, the surrounding streets, and eventually the other five buildings in the complex.

Eureka Tower

About Eureka Tower

Eureka Tower is a 297.3-metre (975 ft) skyscraper located in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction began in August 2002 and the exterior completed on 1 June 2006. The plaza was finished in June 2006 and the building was officially opened on 11 October 2006. The project was designed by Melbourne architectural firm Fender Katsalidis Architects and was built by Grocon (Grollo Australia). The developer of the tower was Eureka Tower Pty Ltd, a joint venture consisting of Daniel Grollo (Grocon), investor Tab Fried and one of the Tower's architects Nonda Katsalidis. It was the world's tallest residential tower when measured to its highest floor, until surpassed by Ocean Heights and the HHHR Tower in Dubai. As of December 2013 it is the 14th tallest residential building in the world.[4]It is currently the 98th tallest building in the world.

Design and features

Eureka Tower is named after the Eureka Stockade, a rebellion during the Victorian gold rush in 1854. This has been incorporated into the design, with the building's gold crown representing the gold rush and a red stripe representing the blood spilt during the revolt. The blue glass cladding that covers most of the building represents the blue background of the stockade's flag and the white lines also represent the Eureka Stockade flag. The white horizontal stripes also represent markings on a surveyor's measuring staff.

When measured either by the height of its roof, or by the height of its highest habitable floor, Eureka Tower was the tallest residential building in the world when completed. It is also currently the building with the most floors available for residential occupancy in the world. The building stands 297 metres in height, with 91 storeys above ground plus one basement level. It is one of only seven buildings in the world with 90 or more storeys and is the equal 77th tallest building in the world. It is also the second-tallest building in Australia and the tallest building in Melbourne. The single level basement and first 9 floors contain car parking. The building's proximity to the water table as well as the Yarra River made the construction of a basement car park uneconomical. In all, there are 84 floors of apartments (including some floors shared between car parking and apartments), with the remainder being used for building facilities and the observation deck.

According to the ranking system developed by the U.S.-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the Eureka Tower qualifies as the tallest building in three of the four categories in which heights are ranked, namely height to the floor of the highest occupied floor of the building. For comparison, the Q1 apartment tower on the Gold Coast has its highest habitable floor the observation deck, reaching a height of 235 m (771 ft), some 62 m (203 ft) lower than Eureka Tower's highest habitable floor. Q1's highest penthouse apartment is 217 m (712 ft) whilst Eureka's penthouse is 278 m (912 ft) high. However, the spire attached to the top of Q1 exceeds the Eureka Tower in the other two categories, namely "Height to the tip of spire, pinnacle, antenna, mast or flag pole" – in this case, spire – and height to architectural top of the building.

Specifications

556 apartments

13 lifts travelling up to 9 m/s

52,000 m2 of windows

3680 stairs

110,000 tonnes of concrete

5000 tonnes of reinforced steel

Building weighs 200,000 tonnes

Floors 82 to 87, marketed as Summit Levels, contain only one apartment per floor, each with an original price of A$7 million for the unfurnished floor space alone.

The highest floors of the tower house an observation deck (level 88), restaurant[9] (level 89), communications room and balcony (90) and water tanks (90 and 91). A system of pumps constantly moves water between the two 300,000 litre tanks to counteract wind-induced oscillations.

Comcast Center

About Comcast Center

Comcast Center is a skyscraper in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The 58-story, 297 m (974 ft) tower is the tallest building in Philadelphia and the seventeenth tallest building in the United States. Originally called One Pennsylvania Plaza when the building was first announced in 2001, the Comcast Center went through two redesigns before construction began in 2005. Comcast Center was designed by architect Robert A. M. Stern for Liberty Property Trust.

At the beginning of 2005, the final redesign and its new name the Comcast Center was unveiled. The building is named after its lead tenant, cable company Comcast, which makes the skyscraper its corporate headquarters. Leasing 1,094,212 square feet (101,656 m2), Comcast takes up 89 percent of the building. The building features retail and restaurant space and a connection to the nearby Suburban Station. In Comcast Center's lobby is the Comcast Experience, which is a 2,000 square feet (190 m2) high-definition LED screen that has become a tourist attraction. Designed to be environmentally friendly, the skyscraper is the tallest Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building in Philadelphia.

History

Planning (1999-2004)

In 1999, class A office vacancy in the city was at 6.6%, leading developer Willard Rouse to envision a new tower. Eventually the developer settled on the location where the building resides today, a 2-acre (8,100 m2), $288 per square-foot parcel owned by Equitable Life Assurance Co. In 2000, architect Robert A. M. Stern began working on a design for a skyscraper being planned by Liberty Property Trust in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 2001, Liberty Property Trust announced its plan to build the 52-story One Pennsylvania Plaza in Center City. Anticipated US$400 million, One Pennsylvania Plaza was to be 750 ft (230 m) and made of kasota stone similar to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The site for the future skyscraper was at 17th Street and John F. Kennedy Boulevard, a site occupied by a building that housed the Defender Association of Philadelphia and a parking lot. Demolition of the building began in 2002 and ended in 2003.

Cable company Comcast had been looking for possible new headquarters space in anticipation of the end of its lease in Centre Square in 2006. Comcast was looking for more than 400,000 square feet (37,000 m2) of office space and developers were actively courting the company for their developments. Comcast was the only employer in the city with major expansion plans at the time. Comcast was considering staying in Centre Square, while also contemplating moving their headquarters to the new Cira Centre building or One Pennsylvania Plaza. Comcast was spread out over 10 floors in two buildings at Centre Square and wanted space on contiguous floors. In January 2004, Liberty Property Trust unveiled a redesign for the building. The redesign turned One Pennsylvania Plaza into a 60-story, 962 feet (293 m) tower, making it the tallest building in the city. In the redesign, the kasota stone was changed to a lighter granite and a short pyramidal roof was added. The redesign was a result of discussions that had begun in 2003 with Comcast about moving into the tower.

On January 3, 2004, Liberty Property Trust signed a 15½ year lease with Comcast and a construction contract with L.F. Driscoll Co. Liberty Property Trust also unveiled another redesign of the building and its new name, the Comcast Center. The now 975 feet (297 m), 58-story Comcast Center would no longer have a pyramid top and would have a complete glass facade. The architectural model was created by Richard Tenguerian.

Construction (2005-2008)

The official groundbreaking ceremony was on March 31, 2005. The ceremony, which was held at night, featured a light show coordinated with the song "Elevation". The song was composed specifically for the event by Curtis Institute of Music graduate Steven Hackman and recorded by the Curtis Institute of Music Orchestra. The groundbreaking also featured Kodo, the Germantown High School Drum Line, and a 6 feet (1.8 m) tall ice sculpture of the Comcast Center.

As the building was under construction, in March 2006, Liberty Property Trust ran into trouble with Philadelphia's Plumbers Union Local 690, which had issues with the building's waterless urinals. The waterless urinals were part of the plan to make the Comcast Center an environmentally friendly building because they would save an extra 1.6 million US gallons (6,100 m3) of water a year. The plumbers union opposed the waterless urinals, claiming they were unsanitary and would provide less work for the plumbers. Philadelphia's Plumbing Advisory Board approved the waterless urinals on April 5 after a compromise, which stated that the building's owners and city officials would monitor the performance of the waterless urinals, was reached. Piping that would allow water to flow to the urinals in case they needed to be converted was installed in the Comcast Center, which Liberty Property Trust says was always part of the building's plan.

A week later, on April 13, Liberty Property Trust sold an 80 percent interest in the Comcast Center to German real estate firm CommerzLeasing & Immobilien AG, a subsidiary of Commerzbank AG. The deal completed Liberty Property Trust's planned recapitalization of the anticipated cost of the building, and the value of the joint venture, called Liberty/Commerz 1701 JFK Boulevard L.P., included mortgage debt and equity.

On June 18, 2007, the Comcast Center was topped out. The ceremony, which was held in the building's future plaza, featured the raising of a steel beam to the skyscraper's highest point. The beam was signed by workers and guests and as it was raised, on account of tradition, an American flag and a tree sat on the beam. Also sitting on the beam was a statue of Philadelphia founder William Penn. The statue was there to counteract the 1980s "curse" of Billy Penn, which prevented Philadelphia's sports teams from winning a championship following the construction of buildings taller than the statue of William Penn on top of the 548 feet (167 m) Philadelphia City Hall. The 25 inches (640 mm) statue of William Penn remained on the beam until it was stolen. The statue was replaced and the "curse" ended when the Philadelphia Phillies won the 2008 World Series.

Even though the building had not officially opened, Comcast office workers began moving in early December 2007, ahead of the scheduled completion in March 2008. The Comcast Center officially opened on June 6, 2008.[30] A study sponsored by Comcast and Liberty Property Trust said the construction of the Comcast Center created 17,200 jobs and generated US$2 billion of economic activity for Pennsylvania. Despite opposition by other building owners to construction of the Comcast Center, by the time most space in the Comcast Center had been leased vacancy rates in Center City offices were falling and rents were rising. Even HRPT Properties Trust had leased 70 percent of the space Comcast vacated by 2007. The predictions by opponents did not occur mainly because Comcast ended up leasing 89 percent of the building and the offices for the Comcast Center's second largest tenant, Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania, were new to the city.