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The Williams Tower
The Williams Tower (formerly the Transco Tower) is a skyscraper located in the Uptown District of Houston, Texas. It was designed by architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee, in association with Houston-based Morris-Aubry Architects, and erected in 1983. The tower is among Houston's most visible buildings. The building is the 4th-tallest in Texas, the 22nd-tallest in the United States, and the 80th-tallest building in the world. It is the tallest building in Houston outside of Downtown Houston. The building has the United States headquarters of the Hines Interests real estate firm.
Hines Interests LP was the original developer of the tower. In 2008 an affiliate of Hines purchased the Williams Tower for $271.5 million. The building was offered along with the parking garage, a 2.3 acres tract across the street from the Williams Tower, and a 48% stake in the Williams Waterwall and the surrounding park; Hines had already owned the other 52% of the waterwall.
In 2002, Ryan John Hartley climbed the Williams Tower unharnessed and jumped from the 30th story committing suicide. He had on him a political note that did not detail if it was his intention to jump.
At 64 stories and 909 feet (277 m) above the ground level, the Williams Tower is the tallest building in Houston outside of Downtown Houston. When it was constructed in 1983, it was also the world's tallest skyscraper outside of a city's central business district.
The building is unique in that it was built to function as two separate towers stacked directly on top of one another, one comprising the first forty floors and the other the forty-first to sixty-fourth. The building has separate banks of elevators and lobbies for each of the two building sections. A majority of the bottom 40 floors are occupied by Williams. The remainder of the building is occupied by a variety of tenants. The building's stepback design suggests one of Johnson's earlier (and smaller) works, the IDS Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Williams Tower was named "Skyscraper of the Century" in the December 1999 issue of Texas Monthly magazine. Paul Gapp of the Chicago Tribune said that the building became an "instant classic" when it opened. Paul Goldberger of The New York Times said that the tower gave Post Oak Boulevard "a center, an anchor, which most outtowns lack."
The Williams Tower
The Williams Tower (formerly the Transco Tower) is a skyscraper located in the Uptown District of Houston, Texas. It was designed by architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee, in association with Houston-based Morris-Aubry Architects, and erected in 1983. The tower is among Houston's most visible buildings. The building is the 4th-tallest in Texas, the 22nd-tallest in the United States, and the 80th-tallest building in the world. It is the tallest building in Houston outside of Downtown Houston. The building has the United States headquarters of the Hines Interests real estate firm.
Hines Interests LP was the original developer of the tower. In 2008 an affiliate of Hines purchased the Williams Tower for $271.5 million. The building was offered along with the parking garage, a 2.3 acres tract across the street from the Williams Tower, and a 48% stake in the Williams Waterwall and the surrounding park; Hines had already owned the other 52% of the waterwall.
In 2002, Ryan John Hartley climbed the Williams Tower unharnessed and jumped from the 30th story committing suicide. He had on him a political note that did not detail if it was his intention to jump.
At 64 stories and 909 feet (277 m) above the ground level, the Williams Tower is the tallest building in Houston outside of Downtown Houston. When it was constructed in 1983, it was also the world's tallest skyscraper outside of a city's central business district.
The building is unique in that it was built to function as two separate towers stacked directly on top of one another, one comprising the first forty floors and the other the forty-first to sixty-fourth. The building has separate banks of elevators and lobbies for each of the two building sections. A majority of the bottom 40 floors are occupied by Williams. The remainder of the building is occupied by a variety of tenants. The building's stepback design suggests one of Johnson's earlier (and smaller) works, the IDS Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Williams Tower was named "Skyscraper of the Century" in the December 1999 issue of Texas Monthly magazine. Paul Gapp of the Chicago Tribune said that the building became an "instant classic" when it opened. Paul Goldberger of The New York Times said that the tower gave Post Oak Boulevard "a center, an anchor, which most outtowns lack."