Wells Fargo Plaza
Houston, USA

HEIGHT: 302m/991 feet
FLOORS: 71 floors
COMPLETION: 1983
ARCHITECT: Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM)

Houston has already established itself as an energy center, and has been struggling to establish a native banking industry. These efforts are repeatedly thwarted by the buyouts and mergers so common in that sector. Thus, we have Wells Fargo Bank Plaza, formerly the Allied Bank plaza. It was built to say "money." The architects achieve this through a unique structure. From the ground the building appears like any other glass-clad rounded monolith. But from the air you can see it is formed from two semicircles arranged to mimic the shape of a dollar sign ($). This form however has its drawbacks. Most significantly when combined with its narrow proximity to neighboring towers, Louisiana Street forms a vortex of wind, making life at street level miserable. Houston is used to harsh treatment from Mother Nature, and that's why the downtown tunnel system was created. The Wells Fargo Bank Plaza thwarts nature's wind-lashing by putting its pedestrian plazas and cafes below street level. This also provides easy access to the tunnel system, and creates a debate over exactly how tall the building really is. From street level, it is 71-stories, or 970-feet. But if most of your tenants enter through pedestrian plazas somewhat lower, does that increase the building's official height? This is only an issue because Wells Fargo Bank Plaza is the second-tallest building in the city, behind Chase Tower at 75-stories and 1,002 feet. But does the tower's essential subterranean element count towards this goal, and would it change the ranking?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/skyscraperrot/wellshou01.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/skyscraperrot/wellshou02.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/skyscraperrot/wellshou03.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/skyscraperrot/wellshou04.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/skyscraperrot/wellshou05.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/skyscraperrot/wellshou06.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/skyscraperrot/wellshou07.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/skyscraperrot/wellshoubase.jpg

7.5/10

Sleek and tall..but a bit bland.

I dont think it has an exact dollar shape. I think its floor plan consists of two quadrants placed opposite together to form an S shape.

a good 'ol Texas sized glass tower . . love it .. .8.5/10

A bit plain, but nice and glassy and with a few curves.

6/10

oh this building is so monotonous...but usually i like this type of building..;)

7, it just doesnt catch my attention

Is there an aerial photo of it so we can see the shape?

8/10 for now

I like the shape and the sleek green glass: 8/10.

a beautiful glass skyscraper. Anyone have air photo of it? 8.0

much, much, much better than chase.

(of course, that's all an opinion)

Blue, (my favourite colour) and GLASS! yippee!

8.5

NP: Atlanta Rhythm Section - I Am So Into You

Boring, boring and more boring.

Did I mention it was boring?

It has nothing decent to reflect with all that glass and screams "80's" so loud I'm tempted to put on mauve leg warmers and listen to Cindy Lauper. I didn't like the 80's. ;)

5/10

I like the curves and all that glass too! 8/10

It's basic, yes, but the glass and curves certainly seem to help make it better than Houston's tallest. 6.

Typical 80's glass box. This look embodies Houston's highrise architecture IMO... Personally, I don't really care for it, but it is a decent building.

6.5/10

It looks very "basic". Not too exciting. Nice Houston tradition...6/10

8/10. I love reflective glass. This building just seems like every other reflective glass building though, not that that's all that bad however.

nice curves!
9.0!

Having it round on one side gives this building alittle charactor but it is just a glass box

8/10

I love the clean facade nad the high wall!!! perfect! 10/10

Some people actually gave it a 10? Pfft.

5.0 just because it is tall. Other then that it is a plain glass building. The curves don't make it better either....it's still a glass thing-a-ma-gig.

The bland glass boxes are not what I like, the only thing going for it is its height. I am giving it a 6.5

not a terrible looking building but the dollar sign design is interesting...hmmm..anyways it's saving grace is the curved facade & it's height....overall a 7.5/10

8/10 - OK, I'm a sucker for nice, shiny glass curtain walls, and that facade REALLY dances with the light, which gives this tower at least one, maybe two points. It also has good soaring height, and I like the curves.

It's a plain design, but I wish it were a 1000-footer. It would be a much better building for Houston's tallest instead of the Texas Commerce Tower. For a while, I thought it WAS the tallest.

8.5/10

cool looking building

While the WIlliams is my favourite over 900 feet back home, this one is great from street level. I have been to the observation decks a few times and you get great views. Fun to look at from the deck in the Chase. 8.5


Ciao,
Lt-AWACS, who needs a hug

- points are that it's plain.
+ are the glass facade
the curves

So this is a 7.0/10

6.5 Quintessential Houston... but not all that impressive

If you can easily move (walk/drive) around it, it would be O.K. The design needs that.

8/10 I like the curves, and it's tall.

The shape is really bland and boring but the glass is one of the best I've ever seen! :D

8/10

8.5/10 Like it. Don't like it for Houston.

8/10..Looking good. It has a interesting slick color, solid glass, the height and an unique shape.

<table cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 width=98% class="quoteBox">
<td align=left valign=center> <smallfont> <b>Quote</B> <I>originally posted by Jasonhouse </i></b> </smallfont> </td>
<tr><td align=left valign=top>Typical 80's glass box. This look embodies Houston's highrise architecture IMO... Personally, I don't really care for it, but it is a decent building.

6.5/10</td></tr>
</table>

Boxes have curves?? :lol:

10+++++++++++++++

AHHH!!!! GREEEN GLASSSS!!!!! I LOVE IT!:D

My favorite Houston skyscraper. I love modern, contemporary skyscrapers with blue mirror glass plus a curve shape. Such a cool smooth skyscraper.

awesome, but houstons bofA and heritage plaza are better imo, 8

8.5/10 oh yea:guns1: i like it

7.5/10

Nice glass, nice color, nice curves, nice tower.

I like this one for sure. Nice slender, tall and not boxy at all.!

8/10

Nice one, 8.5/10

7/10

a nice glass tower


9

8.5/10 :)
I like the glassy, sleek appearence of this tower, but it isn't that unusual.

Nice glassy tower
9.5/10

9/10 glass!!!

10/10 ! :)

10/10 I love how wells mimics the shape of the dollar sign

8/10

9/10


great tower.

8.5/10
Very tall piece of glass.
The colour of the glass is great, the shape is simple. Looks very elegant.

8/10

It is elegant, but the crystal ....... :rant: 6/10

looks too corporate. houston needs more interesting scrapers like dallas. the only cool thing about this is that it's in the shape of the $ sign. at least it looks more attractive than that stonewall jp morgan chase.

7

9/10

nice tower 8.5/10

Very nice building, could have beaten JPMorganChase Tower EASILY!!!

I love this building. Perhaps it's my emotional attachment to it (my mom used to work on the 69th floor and I would often go to work with her when I was much younger).

I love the simple elegance, and glassiness. 10/10

6/10

Above average building. The color is good (not great), the curves are nice (also not great). The engineering problems in terms of wind, etc, bug me a bit, but its a decent building.

a mount of glass!!! don't like it! 4

Good looking green glass building. 7.5/10

7/10

9/10

8/10

a lot of glass 8.5

8/10
Huge and sleek, impressive height, vast walls of shiny reflective glass cladding ...
A bit cold and corporate though. Needs something to make it feel a bit more 'human'.

8/10

9/10 I love the glass!

10/10. I love it. Wells Fargo Plaza is the most sleek glass building ever. It is clean-looking, and the glass all over it gives that blue-green tint to the color. The dollar-sign design also adds more uniqueness to it as a real piece of architecture.

At first I thought it was the tallest until it turned out it was the second tallest. JP Morgan Chase from the west side view is so obscure.

Thats well smart. 10/10

8

Nice soaring height....IMO looks too pretty for Houston

Aerial Photo:
http://************/wp7y0

8/10

8/10 I liked its shape

7.5/10

This one of my favorite buildings in Houston. Wells Fargo has such a cool smooth aqua facade that is refreshing to look at. It does well in the downtown mix of scrapers. I love it!! 10/10

10/10 ....just simply awesome, absurdly awesome

Very cool building.

9/10

Simple design, however, it a beauty, 8/10

Just give me something tall and just glass. 8.0

Nice simplistic design. Gotta love it. I give it a 9/10. :D

reminds me of 21st century tower in Dubai:) 9/10

7.5/10

Sleek and tall..but a bit bland.

I dont think it has an exact dollar shape. I think its floor plan consists of two quadrants placed opposite together to form an S shape.
I agree. :)

7.5/10
bland

Nice and smooth, 8/10

Cool. It's really tall but a bit plain. 7/10

Shapeless. I mean, so much glass kills the glass. Who could tell this thing is 300m tall ?
Funnily, the thing I like about it is the sharp corner ^^ That's about the only point from which you can realize it's tall.
3.5

I've never been quite sure about this one. It's got a nice color and graceful curves, but something about it just looks.. incomplete. It wants something, but I'm not sure what. Anyway, it looks neat on the Houston skyline so I'll give it an 8.0

its glass so it automaticly gets 10 :D

7/10

The glass is nice but it has a common shape.

9/10

Dull. 5.

9/10

7.5, I don't know it's really nice, but it's missing something, I don't know what.

10/10

No pictures!:(

Not bad, good colouring, nice curves, but distinctly average. 6/10.

7.5/10

8.5/10

10! :drool:

a lovely building..... 9/10

nice tower 9/10

7/10

9/10

boring imo...

Nice shape and cool glass. And good height too ;) 8/10

nice and glassy
8/10

Design- 8
It's in Houston, so 5.

9/10.

not very special
8/10

[QUOTE=xantarcx]Design- 8
It's in Houston, so 5.[/QUOTE

WTF? :weirdo:

COOL BUILDING

nice one 9

9.0 Elegance.

9.0 _ I love its height and color

Very nice, on of my favs in Houston
9/10

8.5/10. Magnificent glass giant. It'd be good if the detailing on the facade stood out a bit more to break up the facade but it's shape creates additional interest. Immensely better than JPMorganChase.

Not too much to it but sleek and tall. 8/10

my scecong favourite skyscraper in the USA , this building have and intereting structure combinate with good lines and beuty colours in its facade 10/10

Nothing special 6.5

9.5 I love it!!!!

8.5/10
sweet building,sleek ,elegant,classy but it needs something,maybe a setback or 2 a spire or something to break up the monotonus nature of the facade

9/10

8.5/10

10/10

8.5/10. Very glassy building!

8/10

four more fucking meters.. so its 300:mad:

Plain and not that attractive...6/10

9/10

7.5/10

Sleek and tall

7.5/10

Love it!

Tall and glassy.

9/10

Cheers,

Adam

I just LOVE it, so deffinetly worth a 9.5/10

very sleek 8/10

8.5/10

This tower is one of the nicest in Houston, I just really like it. 8/10

This looks good! 8.5/10

8/10 nice facade and design

9.5/10
like it, like it, like it..

:)

10/10 Simply amazing

9/10 Supersize glass tower. me like. It looks so slick. But despite size, not too interesting

Nothing special. 6/10.

8/10 Simple glass curved design but very bold and striking IMO

6,5/10

7/10.....is that the place where r. keating shooted one of his music videos? (just asking)

Like it 7/10

8.5. A very good example of it's time period!

8/10

8/10

great tower like the glass and curves 8/10

8/10

one of the favourite tower of the US

good height and cool facade. 8.5/10

8.5/10

I like this one.. 9/10

8/10

9.5/10

7.5/10

9.5/10
Very modern and hign building for his time (1983), I think...

9/10 :)

Undoubtly one of my favourite buildings in the USA.
9.5/10.

9/10 A very nice glass skyscraper

9/10.

9/10

8/10

6.5/10

9.5/10 Nice.

8/10...very sleek

ill give it AN eight

Very elegant and classy. I like!

9/10

rather bland

I love Wells Fargo! One of my faves. 10

9/10...its shiny and tall, a good combo

I like reflective glass facades. 6.5/10.

Hmmm....simple exterior design. Class building can found every big cities like hong kong, LA, NY.....etc. So....6/10.

I just love that mirror like facade.

8.5/10

10/10

looks nice
9/10

This is a nice skyscraper. Would like to see some pictures from further away, to see it in its setting. 8.0/10.0

9,5/10

http://www.billpogue.com/stock_photography/texas_houston_skyline/lima/D1130001.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Houston_Texas_CBD.jpg

Love glass towers and this is a good example of one....8/10.

this is one of my favorites..i love the juxtapositioning of the two 1/4 cylinders. i like the emerald green glass.....it's very deep looking. 9

9 / 10

love the glass facade and shape.

8.5 / 10

8 / 10

very nice! 9/10

Beautiful

10

clean design 8/10

It does look very nice but it's the same floor from the bottom to the top pretty much.

8/10.

6/10

I love it! 10!

9.5/10. I lke this kind of Building!

Sweet tower 8.5/10 ;)

Nice curves. Simple but shiny. 8.5/10

7/10 Sexy!

9/10 love the claddding and design favorite building in Houston

9.5 - I think it looks pretty nice.

I like it... but it's like the torre mayor in mexico...
7.5/10

kinda plane

8/10

Buildings look nice when they have glass but you can have too much of it. This fits the bill. A little variety in the design might have been nice.

5.5

9/10 - simple and elegant :cheers:

it really isn't that special.. a little interesting but nothing special.. i gave it a-3

Well if the Aon center can be a box and look good, this thing can too.
I give it a 8/10. no little trinkets or anything, jsut a sweet office tower. almost 1000 feet

8/10 - nice. i'd like it better if it were taller.

8/10 like the glass.

I like this building a lot; if you see it from the air, you can see the Dollar symbol ($).

9/10

It's a nice tower.

i like it, more than 20 years old and still in good shape 9/10

8.5/10

I love modern and sleek.

8.5 from Toronto

I like it... but it's like the torre mayor in mexico...
7.5/10

How can the Wells Fargo tower be like torre mayor when it was built 20 years before torre mayor ?

Really nice skyscraper. 9/10

9,5/10

8/10

9/10

10/10

5/10

What a curves!

:D:D:D

8.5/10

It looks very "basic"

5/10

its perfect for me a
i like the glas, the desing and has a great hight

10

Classic tower. Early 80's but has a timeless elegance that will endure. Screw you all who think those silly Asian monstrosoties of late 80's/early 90's have anything on this.

It looks a little bit boring. 8/10

I like it. It has a clean, sleek look to it.

8

beautiful for '83!

8/10

8/10

7/10

6/10

nice curves.

9 / 10

9/10

:cheers:

7/10

6/10

9/10 Simple but smashing design!!!!!!!!

I give it 8.5, but did anyone else see the guy's name was skidmore?:uh::sly:

7/10

9/10

9/10

10/10...

I love this building! very good proportions! very nice glass!

Perfect, dream.
10/10

I like glassy tower. 7.5/10

nice and shiny. 7/10 :)

my fave houston bldg...10/10

:colgate: " Love IT, love IT! " Another " glass beauty ". 10/10

Gotta respect this giant.
9.5/10

8/10

7/10

9/10