AT&T Corporate Center
Encyclopedia
The Franklin Center is a 60-story skyscraper
completed in 1989 as the AT&T Corporate Center to consolidate the central region headquarters
of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T). It stands at a height of 1021 ft (311.2 m) and contains 1700000 sq ft (157,935.2 m²) in the Loop
neighborhood
of downtown Chicago. It is located two blocks east of the Chicago River
and northeast of the Willis Tower with a main address of 227 West Monroe Street and an alternate address of 100 South Franklin Street. in the Loop
community area
of downtown Chicago.
The supertall building is the tallest constructed in Chicago in the last quarter of the 20th Century. It is the 5th tallest building in Chicago and the 11th tallest in the United States. It contains office and retail space and a 350-space garage.
Tishman Speyer acquired the property in 2004 and renamed the adjacent USG Building as Franklin Center in 2007 after USG relocated its offices. The name was later applied to the entire complex.
was dissolved by the court ordered divestiture of local phone companies. In the decade that followed, AT&T erected new buildings across the country including the AT&T Building
in New York City
. On April 5, 1985, AT&T issued a request for proposals
that produced eleven respondents. Stein and Co., the winning realtor, sought Skidmore, Owings and Merrill as designers for the purpose of distinguishing a proposal from the nearby Willis Tower. On April 3, 1989, AT&T employees began to occupy the office space.
The building was built under a self-imposed comprehensive minority contracting and affirmative action package that met the city's 1985 30% hiring rule for public sector projects. Chicago Mayor Harold Washington
's administration had passed an edict that 30% of the work for public sector projects be set aside for minority and women-owned businesses. In a show of support for this rule Stein & Co. and AT&T adopted the rule for their private development.
Designed by Adrian D. Smith of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the Franklin Center, is one of the most famous and recognized buildings in Chicago. The building's form features setbacks
at the 15th, 30th and 45th floors. Designed in the postmodern architectural
style, it is a granite
-clad steel-framed building resting on pile
foundations. The structure is characterized by strong vertical lines, spiked roof pinnacles, granite cladding and setbacks. The granite is a deep red color at the base, but changes shade to rose-beige at the top. Above the 5th floor, the lighter rose-beige granite is protected by silk-screened aluminum panels. The building relies on Gothic
detailing to showcase verticality. The building's verticality evokes images of 1920s buildings, and the sturdiness of the structure is reminiscent of the Chicago Board of Trade Building
. In addition to its design, the building relies on its location at the farthest corner from the Willis Tower to set it apart.
are spanned by a series of neo-deco light bands extending wall to wall. The lobby
extends completely through the block, with a giant entrance hall at Monroe Street and a 16-story full-height atrium
in the link between the AT&T and USG towers (also designed by Smith) as both towers share a common appearance. The building boasts two public lobbies and a mezzanine-level lobby. The lobbies are among the most lavish in Chicago, and they are all decorated with patterned marble
floors and walls, bronze, gold-leaf oak trim, and stylized lighting fixtures.
links between them. http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=attcorporatecenter-chicago-il-usa
. The Quincy station
is one block to the south and the Washington and Wells station
is located two blocks to the north, both on Wells Street. Union Station
stands three blocks to the west on Jackson Boulevard, providing terminal service
for Amtrak
and select service for Metra
. Additional Metra service is provided at the LaSalle Street Station
, four blocks to the south and Ogilvie Transportation Center
station four blocks to the north-west.
, John Hancock Center
, and Trump International Hotel and Tower (Chicago)
in height, but will be surpassed in height by the Waterview Tower
if completed as planned. The building's official height measurement increased to from 886 feet (270.1 m) to 1007 feet (306.9 m) when the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat
changed measurement conventions to include ornamental spires during the Willis Tower - Petronas Tower height controversy.
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
completed in 1989 as the AT&T Corporate Center to consolidate the central region headquarters
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T). It stands at a height of 1021 ft (311.2 m) and contains 1700000 sq ft (157,935.2 m²) in the Loop
Chicago Loop
The Loop or Chicago Loop is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas located in the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is the historic commercial center of downtown Chicago...
neighborhood
Community areas of Chicago
Community areas in Chicago refers to the work of the Social Science Research Committee at University of Chicago which has unofficially divided the City of Chicago into 77 community areas. These areas are well-defined and static...
of downtown Chicago. It is located two blocks east of the Chicago River
Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of the same name, including its center . Though not especially long, the river is notable for being the reason why Chicago became an important location, as the link between the Great Lakes and...
and northeast of the Willis Tower with a main address of 227 West Monroe Street and an alternate address of 100 South Franklin Street. in the Loop
Chicago Loop
The Loop or Chicago Loop is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas located in the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is the historic commercial center of downtown Chicago...
community area
Community areas of Chicago
Community areas in Chicago refers to the work of the Social Science Research Committee at University of Chicago which has unofficially divided the City of Chicago into 77 community areas. These areas are well-defined and static...
of downtown Chicago.
The supertall building is the tallest constructed in Chicago in the last quarter of the 20th Century. It is the 5th tallest building in Chicago and the 11th tallest in the United States. It contains office and retail space and a 350-space garage.
Tishman Speyer acquired the property in 2004 and renamed the adjacent USG Building as Franklin Center in 2007 after USG relocated its offices. The name was later applied to the entire complex.
History
In 1982, the American Telephone & Telegraph Company monopolyMonopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
was dissolved by the court ordered divestiture of local phone companies. In the decade that followed, AT&T erected new buildings across the country including the AT&T Building
Sony Building (New York)
The Sony Tower, formerly the AT&T Building, is a tall, 37-story highrise skyscraper located at 550 Madison Avenue between 55th Street and 56th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It was designed by architect Philip Johnson and partner John Burgee, and was completed in 1984...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. On April 5, 1985, AT&T issued a request for proposals
Request for Proposal
A request for proposal is issued at an early stage in a procurement process, where an invitation is presented for suppliers, often through a bidding process, to submit a proposal on a specific commodity or service. The RFP process brings structure to the procurement decision and is meant to...
that produced eleven respondents. Stein and Co., the winning realtor, sought Skidmore, Owings and Merrill as designers for the purpose of distinguishing a proposal from the nearby Willis Tower. On April 3, 1989, AT&T employees began to occupy the office space.
The building was built under a self-imposed comprehensive minority contracting and affirmative action package that met the city's 1985 30% hiring rule for public sector projects. Chicago Mayor Harold Washington
Harold Washington
Harold Lee Washington was an American lawyer and politician who became the first African-American Mayor of Chicago, serving from 1983 until his death in 1987.- Early years and military service :...
's administration had passed an edict that 30% of the work for public sector projects be set aside for minority and women-owned businesses. In a show of support for this rule Stein & Co. and AT&T adopted the rule for their private development.
Architecture
Setback (architecture)
A setback, sometimes called step-back, is a step-like recession in a wall. Setbacks were initially used for structural reasons, but now are often mandated by land use codes.-History:...
at the 15th, 30th and 45th floors. Designed in the postmodern architectural
Postmodern architecture
Postmodern architecture began as an international style the first examples of which are generally cited as being from the 1950s, but did not become a movement until the late 1970s and continues to influence present-day architecture...
style, it is a granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
-clad steel-framed building resting on pile
Deep foundation
A deep foundation is a type of foundation distinguished from shallow foundations by the depth they are embedded into the ground. There are many reasons a geotechnical engineer would recommend a deep foundation over a shallow foundation, but some of the common reasons are very large design loads, a...
foundations. The structure is characterized by strong vertical lines, spiked roof pinnacles, granite cladding and setbacks. The granite is a deep red color at the base, but changes shade to rose-beige at the top. Above the 5th floor, the lighter rose-beige granite is protected by silk-screened aluminum panels. The building relies on Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
detailing to showcase verticality. The building's verticality evokes images of 1920s buildings, and the sturdiness of the structure is reminiscent of the Chicago Board of Trade Building
Chicago Board of Trade Building
The Chicago Board of Trade Building is a skyscraper located in :Chicago, Illinois, United States. It stands at 141 W. Jackson Boulevard at the foot of the LaSalle Street canyon, in the Loop community area in Cook County. Built in 1930 and first designated a Chicago Landmark on May 4, 1977, the...
. In addition to its design, the building relies on its location at the farthest corner from the Willis Tower to set it apart.
Interior
The Otis elevatorsOtis Elevator Company
The Otis Elevator Company is the world's largest manufacturer of vertical transportation systems today, principally focusing on elevators and escalators...
are spanned by a series of neo-deco light bands extending wall to wall. The lobby
Lobby (room)
A lobby is a room in a building which is used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer or an entrance hall.Many office buildings, hotels and skyscrapers go to great lengths to decorate their lobbies to create the right impression....
extends completely through the block, with a giant entrance hall at Monroe Street and a 16-story full-height atrium
Atrium (architecture)
In modern architecture, an atrium is a large open space, often several stories high and having a glazed roof and/or large windows, often situated within a larger multistory building and often located immediately beyond the main entrance doors...
in the link between the AT&T and USG towers (also designed by Smith) as both towers share a common appearance. The building boasts two public lobbies and a mezzanine-level lobby. The lobbies are among the most lavish in Chicago, and they are all decorated with patterned marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
floors and walls, bronze, gold-leaf oak trim, and stylized lighting fixtures.
Features
The building features a lobby-level 650-seat restaurant, a 23000 square feet (2,136.8 m²) retail concourse on two levels, and a 170-car 24-hour parking facility on the lower two levels. The building lobby extends all the way through the block to connect with the nearby USG Building. An atriumAtrium (architecture)
In modern architecture, an atrium is a large open space, often several stories high and having a glazed roof and/or large windows, often situated within a larger multistory building and often located immediately beyond the main entrance doors...
links between them. http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=attcorporatecenter-chicago-il-usa
Exterior lighting
As with other downtown buildings, the tower's setbacks and spires are accented by colored lights at night. The building's managers were praised for dimming their lights during bird migrations, reducing bird mortality 80%.USG Building
The USG Corporation developed the 35-story 1100000 square feet (102,193.3 m²) structure originally known as the USG Building as its corporate headquarters building immediately adjacent to and connected to the AT&T Corporate Center in 1992. Located at 125 South Franklin Street, the same developers, architects and design teams were chosen, and the two buildings were built jointly as a block-long complex on an 85000 square feet (7,896.8 m²) site. They share a 16-story atrium which houses a grand arcade and serves as a common base to the two separate towers. When USG Corporation moved to a new facility in 2007, the building was renamed Franklin Center.Proximity to transit
Positioned near the southwest corner of the Loop, the building is near two elevated stations of the Chicago 'L'Chicago 'L'
The L is the rapid transit system serving the city of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs. It is operated by the Chicago Transit Authority...
. The Quincy station
Quincy (CTA)
-External links:* at Chicago-'L'.org***...
is one block to the south and the Washington and Wells station
Washington/Wells (CTA)
Washington/Wells is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, located in downtown Chicago, Illinois on the Chicago Loop elevated at 100 North Wells Street . It is the second-newest station in the Loop, and opened on July 17, 1995...
is located two blocks to the north, both on Wells Street. Union Station
Union Station (Chicago)
Union Station is a major train station that opened in 1925 in Chicago, replacing an earlier 1881 station. It is now the only intercity rail terminal in Chicago, as well as being the city's primary terminal for commuter trains. The station stands on the west side of the Chicago River between Adams...
stands three blocks to the west on Jackson Boulevard, providing terminal service
Terminal Station
Terminal Station is a 1953 film by Italian director Vittorio De Sica. It tells the story of the love affair between an Italian man and an American woman. The film was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.-Production:...
for Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
and select service for Metra
Metra
Metra is the commuter rail division of the Illinois Regional Transportation Authority. The system serves Chicago and its metropolitan area through 240 stations on 11 different rail lines. Throughout the 21st century, Metra has been the second busiest commuter rail system in the United States by...
. Additional Metra service is provided at the LaSalle Street Station
LaSalle Street Station
LaSalle Street Station is a commuter rail terminal at 414 S. LaSalle Street in downtown Chicago, Illinois, serving Metra's Rock Island District. It was a major intercity rail terminal for the New York Central Railroad until 1968 and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad until 1978. The...
, four blocks to the south and Ogilvie Transportation Center
Ogilvie Transportation Center
The Richard B. Ogilvie Transportation Center is a passenger terminal in downtown Chicago, Illinois, USA, serving the three commuter rail lines of Metra's Union Pacific District, which approach the terminal elevated above street level. It occupies the lower floors of the Citigroup Center...
station four blocks to the north-west.
Awards
- 1990 - Award of Excellence for Urban Development, from the Chicago Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties
- 1992 - Best New Building, from the Chicago civic group Friends of Downtown
- 1997 - Most Valuable Property National Top Ten, from The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
- 1998 - Prix d'Excellence, Office Properties Worldwide, from FIABCI International
Position in Chicago's skyline
The Center is the 5th tallest completed building in Chicago, trailing the Willis Tower, Aon CenterAon Center (Chicago)
The Aon Center is a modern skyscraper in the Chicago Loop, Chicago, Illinois, United States, designed by architect firms Edward Durell Stone and The Perkins and Will partnership, and completed in 1973 as the Standard Oil Building...
, John Hancock Center
John Hancock Center
John Hancock Center at 875 North Michigan Avenue in the Streeterville area of Chicago, Illinois, is a 100-story, 1,127-foot tall skyscraper, constructed under the supervision of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, with chief designer Bruce Graham and structural engineer Fazlur Khan...
, and Trump International Hotel and Tower (Chicago)
Trump International Hotel and Tower (Chicago)
The Trump International Hotel and Tower, also known as Trump Tower Chicago and locally as the Trump Tower, is a skyscraper condo-hotel in downtown Chicago, Illinois. The building, named after real estate developer Donald Trump, was designed by architect Adrian Smith of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill...
in height, but will be surpassed in height by the Waterview Tower
Waterview Tower
Waterview Tower is a partially constructed residential skyscraper in downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States. The original plan called for it to be tall. The plan as of July 2011 is to build a 65-story, 500-unit luxury apartment building....
if completed as planned. The building's official height measurement increased to from 886 feet (270.1 m) to 1007 feet (306.9 m) when the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat
Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat is an international body in the field of tall buildings and sustainable urban design...
changed measurement conventions to include ornamental spires during the Willis Tower - Petronas Tower height controversy.
See also
- List of buildings
- List of tallest buildings in the world
- List of tallest buildings in the world by continent
- List of tallest buildings in Chicago
- List of tallest buildings in the United States
- List of tallest buildings and structures in the world
- List of tallest buildings and structures in the world by country
- List of tallest structures in the world
- List of tallest structures in the world by type of use
- List of tallest structures in the United States
External links
- Franklin Center at tishmanspeyer.com