One Shell Square

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One Shell Square
Information
Location 701 Poydras Street
New Orleans, LA 70139-6001
USA
Status Complete
Constructed 1972
Use Office, Retail
Height
Antenna/Spire N/A
Roof 697 ft (212 m)
Top floor 679 ft (207 m)
Floor count 51
Floor area Office: 1,700,000 sq ft (157,935 m²)
Retail: 32,728 sq ft (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-foot (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. Shell Oil Company is the building's largest tenant. Current occupancy of the building is approximately 90 percent.

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.

At the time of its completion in 1972, One Shell Square was the tallest building in the Southeast, surpassing the Wachovia Bank of Georgia building in Atlanta. It held the title if the Southeast's tallest building until 1976, when the Westin Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta surpassed it. It was the first skyscraper in the South to surpass the 200-m mark.

A heliport—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

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Preceded by
Crescent City Towers
List of tallest buildings in Louisiana
19722009
Succeeded by
Trump International Hotel and Tower (construction to start in 3Q 2008)

Coordinates: 29°57′01″N, 90°04′16″W