One Shell Square

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Information
One Shell Square

Location	701 Poydras Street New Orleans, LA 70139-6001 USA
Status	Complete
Constructed	1972
Use	Office, Retail
Height
Antenna/Spire	N/A
Roof	697 feet (212 m)
Top floor	679 feet (207 m)
Floor count	51
Floor area	Office: 1,700,000 square feet (157,935 m²) Retail: 32,728 square feet (3,041 m²)
Companies
Architect	Skidmore, Owings and Merrill

One Shell Square, located at 701 Poydras Street in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, is a 51-story, 697 feet (212 m)-tall skyscraper designed in the international style by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. It is the tallest building in both the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana. The building is primarily used for leaseable office space, with some retail space on the ground level. The design of the building is very similar to Houston's One Shell Plaza, also built by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. Hines Interest is the developer of One Shell Square and Lincoln Property Company manages. Shell Oil Company is the building's largest tenant. Current occupancy of the building is approximately 90%.

One Shell Square was built using a double tube system, with a steel core and a concrete perimeter, and opened for business in 1972. The exterior of the building is clad in Italian travertine (limestone) and bronze glass. There has been concern over the years regarding the limestone's integrity during severe weather such as tropical systems. Fortunately, these fears did not play out during Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 and the building weathered the storm with minimal damage, such as blown out windows and rain damage. The building reopened to tenants in December 2005.

When completed in 1972, One Shell Square was the tallest building in the Southeastern United States, surpassing the Wachovia Bank of Georgia building in Atlanta. It held the title until 1976, when the Westin Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta surpassed it. It was the first southern skyscraper to surpass the 200 meter mark.

The One Shell Square Emergency Heliport is located on the roof of the tower.

[edit] Location

701 Poydras Street
New Orleans, LA 70139-6001

One Shell Square is bounded by the following streets:

Poydras Street (south)
Carondelet Street {west)
Perdido Street (north)
St. Charles Avenue (east)

[edit] See also

List of tallest buildings in New Orleans

[edit] External links

Preceded by Crescent City Towers	List of Tallest Buildings in the State of Louisiana 1972–2009	Succeeded by Trump International Hotel and Tower (construction to start in 1Q 2007)