Bank of America Center (Houston)

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Information
Bank of America Center
The Bank of America Center
Location	700 Louisiana Street Houston, Texas
Status	Complete
Constructed	1984
Roof	780 ft (236 m)
Floor count	56
Floor area	1.5 million sq ft (139,355 m)
Companies
Architect	Phillip Johnson and John Burgee
Structural Engineer	CBM Engineers Inc.
Developer	Hines Interests

Bank of America Center

The Bank of America Center (formerly the RepublicBank Center, NCNB Center, and NationsBank Center) in Houston, Texas is one of the first significant examples of postmodern architecture built in downtown Houston. The building, completed in 1984 and designed by award winning architect Phillip Johnson and partner John Burgee, is reminiscent of the Dutch Gothic architecture of canal houses in The Netherlands. The tower was developed by and is owned by Hines Interests.

Aerial view of the east side of the Bank of America Center

At 56 stories the building is the 49th tallest building in the United States and is the seventh tallest building in Texas.

The northeast corner of the structure houses a building within a building. On the site is the main Western Union building and when relocation of the telegraph cables proved infeasible new structure was built over the site and the existing structure was incorporated into the new building intact.

On June 9, 2001, the building was the site of a tragic accident that took place during Tropical Storm Allison. Building security warned individuals that the below grade parking levels were in danger of flooding and instructed persons working late in the building to move vehicles to upper levels of the garage. Kristie Tautenhahn, an employee of the law firm Mayer, Brown & Platt[1], went to move her vehicle parked on sub-level 3 at 10:30 UTC (05:30 CDT) which by that time was completely submerged. She drowned in an elevator car when it filled with water as it descended to the lower floor of the garage. [2]