Sears Tower Chicago, Skyscraper Architecture, Architect, Date, Height, Storeys, Designer
Sears Tower Building : Chicago Skyscraper
Key Chicago High-Rise Building, Illinois, USA: Super Tall design by SOM Architects
Feb 13, 2017
Willis Tower Building Renovations
City officials have revealed numerous improvements for Chicago’s tallest building, 233 S. Wacker Drive.
Totaling up to $500 million, the renovations will include six floors of new retail space, an outdoor deck and a winter garden—all intended to entice tourists into the Tower.
Willis Tower Building Renovation
post updated 7 Jan 2016
Sears Tower
Location: Wacker Drive, Chicago, USA
Date built: 1973
Design: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill – SOM
Tallest tower in North America
photo : Skydeck Chicago
3rd tallest building in world at time of writing
Floors: 110-storey office tower
Client: for Sears, Roebuck & Company
Height: 1,450 ft
photo : Michiel van Dijk
Sears Tower modernization and hotel
2009-
Design: Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
image © Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
The Sears Tower was the world’s tallest building for 25 years
Beaten in 1998 by the Petronas Towers, Kuala Lampur, Malaysia
In 2004 Taipei 101 became the tallest building
The Sears Tower is however still tallest to the tips of the antennas: 1,725 ft
Sears Tower architect : Bruce Graham of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill – SOM
Sears Tower – The Building
Sears Tower is strategically located on Wacker Drive in the heart of the West Loop, Chicago’s premier submarket and home to its largest corporations and commuter rail stations. Completed in early 1973, Sears Tower is an attractive and contemporary 110-story trophy office tower consisting of steel columns and beams in a “mega-module” system.
The building contains approximately 3.8 million rentable square feet (“RSF”) including approximately 159,000 RSF of retail space. The Property also features a 160-car executive parking garage accessible from Franklin Street. Other amenities include a world-class broadcast platform, tallest skydeck, full-service conference center, fitness facility, and exceptional technology features.
Sears Tower, completed May 3, 1973, rises to a height of 1,450 feet and is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the Chicago skyline and in the world. This US high-rise held the record for the world’s tallest building for 25 years until the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia were built in 1998.
Then in the Fall of 2004 Taipei 101 took all but one title — tallest to the tips of the antennas, which Sears Tower still owns. Including the Sears Tower antennas, the total height of this Chicago skyscraper increases to 1,725 feet. Designed by the architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill for Sears, Roebuck & Company, the world’s largest retailer at the time, the 3.8 million RSF building is the preeminent office address in Chicago and one of the premier properties in the world.
The Property provides an exceptional unparallel West Loop location, unparalleled views from all of the property’s highly efficient floors and an unmatched prestige.
Sears Tower Antenna Facts
East Antenna 253′ tall
West Antenna 283′ tall
12′ diameter at base
On top of each antenna there is a TLD (Tuned Liquid Dampener). Its purpose is to counteract the sway of the antenna from the wind.
The airplane warning lamps blink 40 times per minute. The night intensity level drops to one quarter of the daytime level at dusk.
Antenna Lighting:
March – St. Patrick’s Day : Green
May – Mother’s Day : Pink
July – 4th of July : Red and Blue
October – Halloween : Orange
December – Holidays : Red & Green
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Architecture in Chicago
Contemporary Chicago Architectural Projects
Chicago Architectural Design – chronological list
Chicago Architecture Tours – city walks by e-architect
Skyscraper Architecture
World Skyscrapes : global background
Shanghai Tower Tallest Building in China – this skyscraper pushes the Willis Tower out of the Top 10 list for the first time since it completed in 1974.
Designers of this world-famous Chicago high-rise: SOM Architects
Empire State Building, New York
Absolute Tower, Canada
Chicago Architect Studios
Willis Tower photo by Skydeck Chicago
Buildings by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill architects
Willis Tower photograph by Michiel van Dijk
Comments / photos for the Sears Tower Architecture page welcome
Website: Willis Tower The Skydeck