BUILDING HISTORY 

JPMorgan Chase Tower is the tallest composite building in the world. The office tower is clad in pale gray polished granite, stainless steel, and gray glass. The western corner of the tower has been sheared off to form a five-sided structure. The western facet of the tower is formed by an 85 foot wide free span of glass that ascends the full height of the building. The tower is positioned on a one-acre plaza to create a large public space. The area is embellished with patterned granite paving, extensive landscaping, including a water garden and Bradford Pear trees, and a major sculpture. This area serves as an important open space for downtown Houston. JPMorgan Chase Tower rests on a full city block in the northwest quadrant of the downtown area, bounded by Capitol, Texas, Travis and Milam Streets. JPMorgan Chase Center, a twenty-story facility housing a parking garage, healthclub and data processing center, is located adjacent to the Tower, across Travis Street.

JPMorgan Chase Tower is also connected to Houston's downtown tunnel system. This system forms a net- work 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. 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. In addition to the ground floor lobby, there is another lobby sixty stories above the plaza level. This sky lobby acts as a transfer point for persons traveling to the upper floors. The view on this lobby is enhanced through the use of wide glass spans and thirteen-foot ceilings.

Architecture

I.M. Pei was selected as the design architect and 3D International as the associate architect. Great consideration was used in the planning of the entire block as well as the building. The plaza is a large open space for tenants and visitors to enjoy. The lobby of JPMorgan Chase Tower was designed to harmonize not only with the height of the structure, but also with the portico of Jones Hall. For that reason, a 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. In addition to the ground floor lobby, the Sky Lobby exists 60 stories above the plaza level. The view from this lobby is enhanced through the use of wide glass spans and 13 foot ceilings. A fascinating aspect of the Tower is its "fifth side", designed to be free of columns to enjoy an uninterrupted 20-mile vista of Houston.

The Sky Lobby on the 60^th Floor

View from the Sky Lobby

JPMorgan Chase Tower offers the highest public view of Houston from the Sky Lobby on the 60^th floor. This floor serves as an observation floor as well as a transfer point to shuttle tenants to floors 49-59 and 61-75. The Sky Lobby is open to the public during the working hours of 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Monday-Friday. The Disheveled Woman and Personage and Birds are also on display in the Sky Lobby.

Personage and Birds

Overlooking the plaza of JPMorgan Chase Tower is the 55-foot sculpture by Spanish artist Joan Miró, which adds a splash of color and whimsy to downtown Houston. The sculpture is made of steel and cast bronze, and is Miró’s largest work of the two monumental freestanding Miró sculptures in America. Personage and Birds was enlarged from a 5-foot bronze sculpture on exhibit in the Sky Lobby. The dedication of Personage and Birds was conducted on the occasion of Miró’s 89^th birthday, April 20, 1982.

Tower Trivia

From the Sky Lobby, visitors can view other spectacular architectural and engineering feats: the Reliant Stadium, the Texas Medical Center, the Galleria, Greenway Plaza and some of the unique buildings that help make up the distinctive Houston Skyline.

JPMorgan Chase Tower has a total of 50 elevators. Six of those are express elevators to the Sky Lobby, which travel at a speed of 1,000 feet per minute, taking approx. 60 seconds from floor 1 to 60.  The elevator cabs consist of stone, glass and stainless steel. The cab walls have been re-clad with a Polished Absolute Black granite honeycomb paneling system with stainless steel revealed joinery. The rear wall granite panels are flanked by laminated safety glass panels layered with an internal stainless steel mesh. The ceiling is brushed stainless steel with minimal articulation, above which is a concealed compact fluorescent lighting cove. The front return panels have been upgraded both with regards to code as well as electronic controls. The floor in the cabs is a dark gun-metal gray carpet.