Williams Tower
Houston, USA

HEIGHT: 24m/901 feet
FLOORS: 64 floors
COMPLETION: 1983
ARCHITECT: Johnson Burgee Architects and Morris Aubry Architects

Architecturally simple, but culturally significant to the people of Houston. The Williams Tower rises 64 stories over the Galleria Area and has become an icon of the city. Had it been cast in stone, rather than glass it would be easily mistaken for any of the skyscrapers that went up before the Great Depression. Now it is a memorial to those buildings that went before it, and still in-line with the other glass blocks that share its zip code. The structure at the bottom of the tower isn't a lobby, it's a fountain. A great horseshoe water wall that lights up at night. However, in this photo, the water is not flowing. The Williams Tower is actually constructed as two 32-story buildings stacked on top of each other. The first floor lobby services the Williams Corporation and its offices on floors three through 32. The second floor lobby services a number of other companies on floors 33-64. There is a sky lobby that also serves as an observation deck on the 51st floor.. Unfortunately, it faces out over dull suburbia, rather than towards downtown, or any of Houston's other six skylines. Still, if you want to see it, you can only get there from the first floor lobby. Ask the guards stationed under the giant "Williams" logo, and they'll show you the way. Tenants boast that this is the tallest office building outside an urban core in America. Unlike most buildings in the Bayou City, the Williams Tower is impressive at night. Even though it has the same light-dimming skyline-ruining glass that the other towers in the city do, the Williams Tower makes up for it by having a rotating beacon on top. It's similar to an aircraft beacon, but much more visible. It is said that its rotation is synchronized with a similar beacon on a skyscraper in Chicago, but there is little proof. The light show is enhanced in December when the top 20 floors light up with the outline of a Christmas tree.

http://tinypic.com/ac9kg

http://tinypic.com/ac9yq

http://www.pbase.com/image/25470724.jpg

http://pbase.com/image/25470727.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/image/25470409.jpg

http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/US/TX/HoustonWilliamsTower.html

6/10 The only thing I like about this building is its height...

I like it...a lot 8/10 :happy:

I've always liked this one! Anything that's tall, glass, sleek, and is not a box gets high points in my book. 8.75/10 :)

I like it,and the fact that its away from the CBD makes it look very imposing on the other relatively short buildings that surround it...
Where was this again?the galleria?

ah, I love rate the talls. Anyway, I give it 8/10.

7.9/10

Nice and simple but nothing to get orgasmic about.
I like the beacon of light at night.

8/10.

:happy:

It`s great, 8,5/10

My First post in international section

I give it 8/10.

WOW... :eek: 9/10 That's a cool building... :eek:

Oops!I forgot to rate it!8.7/10

8/10

I LOVE this building!

9/10

Awesome! 8.5/10.

This building to me epitomizes post modernity. Very sleek, sexy, wonderful color. The lobby looks a little irregular, but this is a very nice tower nonetheless. 9/10

16/20

9/10

That's one of my favorite skyscrapers! The rotating beacon on the top looks absolutely unreal at night!

STUNNING! I LOVE this building!

Beautiful glass, great height, awesome design, cool rotating beacon... It is a kick-ass building

10/10!!!!! Only my 2nd perfect score, with the other being Empire State!

Hey this building is truly great, more pictures that show off its greatness(My Rating=10/10)Personally the sharp sleekness of the building, and its VERY sharp looking edges really turns it on with the sexy glass!

http://www.houstonmetropolis.com/images/pow/rsUptownNighttime6Williams.jpg

http://www.houstonmetropolis.com/images/rsWTatNight2.jpg

http://houstonarchitectureinfo.home.att.net/Images/Buildings/WilliamsTower-003.jpg

http://www.ci.houston.tx.us/citygovt/images/gallery/watrwall.gif

I love this building!!..it's the best looking tower in Houston by far!
all glass & with an interesting facade....if this were downtown Houston the skyline would look incredible.....9.5/10

Updated rating... 8.5/10..:)

its not my style... 4/10

This must've been one of those buildings that actually looks similar to their initial renderings. A lot of these pics look more like a computer rendering than an actual photo of an actual building. In any case, it's a great design, glass always looks cool on skyscrapers.

8/10

8,8/10

This is definitely Houston's best skyscraper. It would look great downtown and would actually add some architectural diversity to all the boxes there. Of course in Atlanta, this would just an average-designed skyscraper :D j/k. It looks great and actually is quite a contrast to the Houston skyline, but I think it adds more than its worth to it. :)

8/10

9.2/10
its location away from downtown makes it so imposing! I LOVE IT!

I like it, I will give it a 8.3/10

Oh yea, 9/10

too bad it's not downtown, i don't like the white lines, but the design it good

8/10

8.5/10. I wouldn't mind seeing it in Dallas' skyline at all ;)

The closest anyone ever came to making a succesful combination of Art Deco and the New York Style in the Postmodernist era. Magnifique! 9.5/10

7/10 I like the small panes, they give it a monumental look. They kind of wimped out at the top though.

7/10

6/10

7/10

Too dark. Poor night lighting. Awkward finish at the top. Some points for good sense of height.

Underacheiver

7.5/10

G

I like this building! must be great in person! 8.5/10

8.5
I like the very first picture of it the most.

9.0

Those pictures were fantastic. 9/10. Looks great in person too, unless I'm confusing it with something else.

What a masterpiece. 9/10 I LOVE IT.

hey, I haven't seen this tower before
nice tower anyway

nice glasstower
8/10

The glass is what really makes it look good.

7.5/10

Like several other buildings, this one is a bit plain, but the glass makes up for it.

7/10

http://www.houstonmetropolis.com/images/WilliamsTower1.jpg http://www.photohome.com/pictures/texas-pictures/houston/transco-tower-2a.jpg

:eek2::eek2::eek2::eek2::eek2::eek2:

I've always adored the simplistic New Yorker Art Deco glass and steel of this building. Hands-down Houston's finest vertical architecture.

8.9.

I've always been fascinated and bewildered with the building as it sits in splendid isolation. It sits like a grand trophy on a bookshelf or an adornment on a vast coffee table - either way, screaming over here-look at me! Very typical of the vision of Texan real-estate developers.

nice and tall, but this is just plane glass

9/10, because of the light beacon on top. Contributes to light pollution. Like the architecture and size.

9/10

i like glassy skyscrapers

very fine facade!
9/10

9/10 - Because the vertical setbacks give it great soaring height, and I'm a sucker for sleek, shiny glass curtain wall facades....In fact, this one owes an architectural debt to the Empire State Building, I think...Especially good use of smaller sebacks to bring the tower gracefully up to the roof.
My only quibbles would have to be that unimaginative little box that's trying to be the crown, while screaming "I'm hiding service machinery!", and which isn't worthy of the rest of the tower. Then there's the base, which seems a bit blocky and uninspired.
Still, though, a really good looking tower!

The facade looks great!! 9/10

:D @ Rail!

Agreed, this is an awesome building. It's like a hot chick all alone. It deserves to be around all the other guys (being Houston's skyline) but it's stuck by itself with all these fugly 15 story boxes. blech.

The rotating beacon just nails it for me; someone described it as being "surreal." I would love to see it sometime soon...

9/10

NP: Fila Brazillia - Place de la Concorde

8/10
Great !!

Nice skyscraper 9/10

ONe of my favourites back home. I like how it sits alone in the Uptown area. THat helps it stand out at over 900ft. Downtown with two other taller buildings it might not have the same stun-power :-)

You have to see it in person to love it even more.

I have been in the public deck (which is now closed since 9-11) and unlike most other skyscrapers in Houston has security checking most folks going up. There is an art exhibit in the base, and good view from the tunnels to the Galleria.

Makes me miss Home. nice pics. (this is my first rate the talls post :-) )


Ciao,
Lt-AWACS, womanizer, pilot, cat-owner, golfer

The facade is the best thing about this tower!Just an awsome tower :eek: 9.0/10

Very nice tower except for the top..it could of used a B of A
(Charllote) style crown.
9/10.

Frankly it looks damn stunning from the street...8/10. :D

9.5

The only things I don't like about this... are the weak box at the top... and the fact that it is not located in the CBD... would look much nicer there... looks a bit out of place where it is...


but this building is awesome... so tall... and soaring... it looks very ominous, menacing and evil... beautiful black glass... and deceptively complex design with those brilliant vertical setbacks... a beauty!

Looks too much like a thing and too little like a building at first glance.

9/10 just awesome

Man this glass is soo cool! :D :cool: Looks great at night too! :guns1: I also like the rotating light beam at the top, very interesting :cheers:

9.5/10

9.5/10 Better than Houston deserves. I just love the sheer starkness of it by itself.

Absolutely stunning. A masterpiece. Even more beautiful in person. A perfect 10. Bravo!!

10, very nice

7.5/10 i love the glass and the setbacks.. nice!:)

8/10

Nice and simple.

Nice glass-building, but I don't like the top that much....8/10

9.5/10
The building is so sleek looking, and it's immense height and the beacon at the top make it look amazing. The glass is nice too.
:)

Looks quite good...better at night than at day...7.5/10

Originally posted by Patrick

nice glasstower
8/10

I should update my rate to 9 ;)

this is my building I love it 10/10

Is a nice one, has height and elegance 9/10

9/10

9/10

Really interesting.

Some nice feaures, Clean and simiple looking
Contrast of the white and blue glass
7/10

8.5/10

9/10. Maybe a little generous, but this is one of my faves. Outstanding building. Great sense of soaring verticality. Fantastic fusion of steel-and-glass modernism while quoting classic art-deco skyscraper forms in a very natural, unforced way. The shimmering facade has a depth that seems to capture different moods depending on the time of day, season, and weather.

My only faults are the somewhat incoherent base, the overly suburban, almost barren park setting (I don't really care for the water wall), and how it goes dark at night -- it would be nice if there were some sort of dramatic lighting, as that beacon never was very interesting to me. I really don't like its location, and wish it were downtown -- I think the Galleria was one of the most harmful things ever to happen to Houston. I also don't like the new name: "Transco Tower" was a very cool, impressive-sounding name; "Williams Tower" simply sounds lame.

Still, probably my favorite building in Houston, although it's hard to pick one from any of Phillip Johnson's Houston buildings (including Pennzoil and Bank of America). But any one of those buildings is easily the best in Texas -- Houston owes everything to Phillip Johnson.

10/10 awesome glass tower, i like a lot how it "controls" all arround it as it doesn't have anyone like him arround

7.5/10
I like the shape of the building. In the night it looks great but looks dull during the day time.

This is my favorite building in the whole world. Pictures just can't do this building justice. It must be seen in person to truly appreaciate what it is. I for one love the fact that this building is not downtown. That's one of the biggest reasons it's my favorite.

Also, what hasn't been mentioned so far is how the building changes colors and shapes. From some angles it looks like a box with a smaller box on top of it. In other angles it looks like a bullet and rounded out at the top. Sometimes it's different shades of grey, sometimes its a deep charcoal black, sometimes it's a mixture of the two. Also, the white lines can't be seen on the building unless you are directly next to it. Even just 3 blocks away from that building those lines really can't be seen. I don't know how that works but it does. Which I actually find a good thing because I don't like the lines either.

Someone mentioned they don't like the location because it's surrounded by 12 story buildings. Well, although it sticks out, keep in mind that simply blocks away there are at LEAST 40 buidings that are over 20 story's, including a 45, a 41, two 40's, several 30's, and quite a few 20 story buildings close to the Williams Tower. So although it's isolated (especially from a distance) the closer you get to the building, you see the building isn't as isolated as one would think.

I have gotten so used to Houston and it's multiple skylines, it now seems weird to me to go to a city and see the CBD and the rest of the city is just flat with no more buildings outside of Downtown. Some like all of a city's buildings in one place ,others don't and I'm one that enjoys leaving downtown going 5, 10, 15, 20 miles out and coming up on what seems like yet another downtown only to come up on another one 5 minutes later, only to come up on another one 7 minutes later, etc. The Williams Tower is the anchor and King of all buildings in Houston outside of downtown, and all of the buildings know it. :)

As if anyone would even wonder, I give this building a 10/10.

Keeps it simple and elegant. One of the few early 80s designs that I like. 8/10

A horror of the cement 3,5/10

the best houston scraper, too bad it's not built in downtown.

i found the large amount of glass frames to be rather unnecessary though.

9.5

http://www.houstonmetropolis.com/images/pow/rsUptownNighttime6Williams.jpg

http://www.divann.com/Williams_Tower_at_sunset.JPG

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/Images/Buildings/WestLoop/WilliamsTower-005.jpg

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/Images/Buildings/WestLoop/WilliamsTower-007.jpg

http://www.property-website.com/sites/4/live/upload/images/06c49400-7e9e-484b-955f-dda252845952.jpg

http://www.matthewlandry.com/images/009.jpg

http://www.houston.org/photocompetition/images/winners/Sims-Doc.jpg

http://www.matthewlandry.com/images/017.jpg

http://s206.n15.vds2000.com/corp%20allred%20618/images/10%20Transco%20Tower.jpg

http://www.photohome.com/pictures/texas-pictures/houston/transco-tower-2a.jpg

ooh! ooh! i love this building...

http://www.pbase.com/image/25470724.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/image/25470727.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/image/28147012.jpg

...i give it a 10/10. :yes:

This is the tallest ofiice building in the world outside of a downtown area.

memorable building, quite "art deco" in some repects.
would be happy to have it here in melbourne.
very stylish in my humble opion

10/10

I like it ! 8.5/10

8!

I have never seen this tower before! I like it!

at some pics it looks nice at some pics it looks terrible, and the topping of the tower is awfull as well.

6.5 out of 10

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/rotpics01/williams03.jpeg

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/rotpics01/williams01.jpeg

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/rotpics01/williams02.jpeg

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/rotpics01/williams04.jpeg



hey, i took these pics...

8 is my take. Need work on top a spire or crown would improve this one, But i like how it has mass.

My favorite skyscraper int he world. 10/10 Its UBER!

Ech. It's not a bad building. Still, it seems totally out of place; it's so much taller than anything else in the picture it looks a little ridiculous. The glass is attractive from some angles but it's just too much in others. It should have tapered a bit more in the middle to really carry the eye upward; the middle of the building is the least impressive part yet it demands the most attention.

6/10.

7/10

6.5/10

A nice building. I like the "art deco/New York" feel to the building, along with the glass curtain. I like the shape of the buiilding especially near the top. I dislike the crown, like Liz L mentioned, and the fact that it is not in the CBD and has nothing to play off of.

8.5/10
I love this building. It's huge, sleek, and very imposing, with great setbacks emphasising the height and scale.

I like it. 8.

Monolithic. Don't like that little box at the top though, I think it spoils it. 7.5/10.

Nice top design. Still have mixed feelings about it, something is missing. 8/10

muy bonito edificio aparte de ser muy alto le pongo un 9

it's ok! 7

Very cool and interesting and excellent choice for Houston!! 10/10

yeah 9/10

I looks good

8/10

10/10. Much luv for Transco Tower, now known as the Williams Tower! The New York-style architecture with mostly glass really turns the building inside out with that dark blue tint. And the beacon too.

5/10 I dont like that it stands alone, and the glass makes it look cheap to me, overall it looks like it took little thought and is not visually stimulating.

looks good from some angles but not others. 7.5/10

would really suit melbourne, Im
slightly evious, but that roof errghh!
7.5

http://www.pbase.com/mancusoj/image/25471055.jpg

thats stunning!

could be entered into the photo contest

9

Great soaring height and a nice mix of style

8.5/10

Love the copoius amounts of glass!

6/10

This is the best one in Houston and one of the best in the world. The tower is very dark and glossy you can help but look at. It sits in a very posh area of the city.
10/10 This is my fav!

8/10

i suppose you can say the buildings addictive

It's tall and that is about it.

6.5

7/10

The best darn building in Texas, no joke. I give this one a 9.5/10. :yes:

Superb tower, 9.5/10

Great, tall, soaring 9

Nice one. Pretty reflections on the cladding. Lighting is okay. The top is messing up ! That's too bad :-(
Still a 7.5.

A beautiful tower. 9,5/10.

8/10

Nice shape and facade.The top could be better though.

8.5/10


I really like this tower. The height is also quite impressive.

Da shiznizzle!9/10

Massive glass tower! 10/10

Impressive 8.5/10

8/10 I had to take a half point off for the cheesy arch entrance.

I like this one very very much 10.0

Really nice tower. Good design and very impressive height. 8,5/10

8/10

Nice and glassy but a little too much

10/10

Great one! Looks very tall. 8.5/10

My favourite tower in Houston. 7.5 from me.

7/10

8.5/10

i love this building, one of my favorite skyscrapers 10/10

8.5/10

oh yes 9/10

Nice, very nice. 9/10

Perfect 10, its even more stunning in person!

6.5/10, the façade is too much 80's for me and generally I don't like it's form/details

Awesome 9

The facade makes the building 8/10.

what a beast. 8/10

It's interesting, 8/10

8/10

good lines and interesting box this have funcional aspect

9/10. Nice glass with plenty of angles and setbacks to make it really stunning. It's just a shame it's not in the CBD - it seems such a waste to have such a tall tower out in the middle of nowhere (well not in the CBD anyway).

6.5/10 Tall but not very stylish

It looks amazing :) 9/10

8/10
A nice tall tower , but the entrance is ugly

Very slender and I think the building has a crisp qualitly. Very nice. 8/10

9.5/10 i like it.

8,5/10

6.5/10

9/10 great tower

8.5/10.

except for the cheezy neo-roman entrance, superb building.

9/10

Modern but simple 9/10

8/10

Nice and simple
7/10

tall but I don't like it.7/10

Well its nothing great but its not a simple box. I like it. 7.5

Looks very tall 8/10

6/10.

It's weid king of unseen building, height is reat though. 7/10

This is a cool tower.

8.5/10

looks tall thats why its an 8.5/10 for me

:)

A very agreeable design 8/10

unique shape 7.5/10

7/10

Ive always loved this building simply for the fact that its incredibly tall and completley isolated. You can totally appreciate every part of it without being it being covered up by neighboring towers. A nuisance sometimes here in NYC. I like the design. Lots of vertical lines to remind you how tall it is. All glass is nice. the roof needs a little work. but a grand tower. 9/10

tall, nice shape, and awesome glass 10/10

Very cool tower, but another colour would have been nicer.
The top could have been better too.
Still 8.5/10

I love it 10/10

http://i1.tinypic.com/nf4gsp.jpg Simply Stunning!

Sweet! 8.5/10

Another 50-100 meters and it would have been perfect!

My favorite building here in Houston. I love that it's in the Galleria area, leaving it isolated from the other tall scrapers in the downtown core. It looms over the entire Uptown region with a power and boldness emanating from it. I never get tired of staring at this building. I give it 9.5.

Nice Building 9/10

Lovely stuff - plenty of angles in there though....

8/10 :)

7/10

8/10

Nice height, but little else is of any interest. Built during a time that was not good for high-rise architecture.
6 for nice height.

8.5/10 I've never seen this one before, But i Really like how it gradually builds up to the top kind of the the empire state building.

4,5/10

9/10

7/10

5/10

Very attractive - tall, slim, nice translucent quality, interesting setbacks and facade details. Overall, a nice design.

8/10

9/10

great tower simple, impressive and dominating 8.5/10

The one i prefer in houston. 10/10 But the pyramid on the top is strange.

i like it very much. 8.5/10

7/10

9.5/10. this building is beautiful. the set backs are beautiful. the angles that poke out of the front are beautiful. the color is unique / beautiful. the entrance stands out.

the only things i didnt like were the very top that doesnt match (if this was clad in glass it would be a 10) and being away from the CBD (which I think would make the building look better in its surroundings although i didn't dock points for this)

9/10 impressive

Very cool. 9/10 from me. It IS tall.. but I wish it was just a slight bit bigger... it does look cool from downtown, though.

6.5/10

poorly topped.

9/10

nice :) 9/10

7/10

9/10

7/10.

10/10

8 / 10

Nice facade; lousy top.

I gave it a six, not a very unique design.

very classy shape but the color is bland
8.5/10

Great facade. Lousy roof.

9 / 10

9.5 looks nice for its age!

8.5/10

4.5 /10

This is a rather lousy design. The only compliment I can think of is this: there's a copycat building in Shenzhen, China. Of course the copy is even worse (1/10).

4 / 10

the top ruined it.

this building is fantastic.....good ol' johnson.....a 9:)

8/10 :)

3.5 / 10

nice 8 out of 10

3 / 10

4.5 / 10

8/10

Great building! I kind of wish it were in Downtown though to make the skyline better. It's still a great tower though! 9/10

9/10.

6,5/10

while basic, is very vertically pleasing 7.5

4/10

8/10

simple. but not too bad. i give 8/10:)

Good shape/interesting - 9.

7/10

yeah is Philiph Johnson and burgee :D 8.5

it's 8.0:D

8/10

6.5/10 To be perfectly honest its not all that unique. Still pleasing to the eye though

awesome building 9/10

8/10

10/10 Plain but sticks up there high!

9.5

it's location in uptown (an area w/ comparatively shorter buildings) just adds to the massiveness of this building when you see it in person. I was 8 the first time I saw this tower...you could call it a first love.

9/10

8/10

4/10

8.0

It doesnt fit it with the surroundings 6/10 for me.