104,[1] with 16 double-decker elevators, made by Westinghouse, modernized by Schindler Group and recently remodernized by Otis Elevator Company
Design and construction
Architect(s)
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill[1] Fazlur Rahman Khan Bruce Graham
Engineer
Jaros, Baum & Bolles (MEP),
Aon Fire Protection Engineering, formerly Schirmer Engineering Corporation (Fire)[1]
Structural engineer
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Main contractor
Morse Diesel International
References
I. ^ "Willis Tower". Emporis. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. [1]
The Willis Tower, originally and still commonly referred to as the Sears Tower, is a 110-story, 1,451-foot (442.3 m) skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), it opened in 1973 as the world's tallest building, a title that it held for nearly 25 years. It is the third-tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, as well as the 23rd-tallest in the world. Each year, more than 1.7 million people visit the Skydeck observation deck, the highest in the United States, making it one of Chicago's most popular tourist destinations.[5]
The building occupies a site bounded by Franklin Street, Jackson Boulevard, Wacker Drive, and Adams Street. Graham and Khan designed the building as nine square "tubes", clustered in a 3×3 matrix; seven of the tubes set back at upper floors. The tower has 108 stories as counted by standard methods, though the building's owners count the main roof as 109 and the mechanical penthouse roof as 110.[1][3] The facade is made of anodized aluminum and black glass. The base of the building contains a retail complex known as the Catalog. The lower half of the tower was originally occupied by retail company Sears, which had its headquarters there until 1994, while the upper stories were rented out.
The structure was known as the Sears Tower from its construction until the naming rights were included in a 2009 lease with the Willis Group. Local area residents still refer to the building by its old name.[6] As of April 2018[update], the building's largest tenant is United Airlines, which occupies around 20 floors.[7][8][9] Other major tenants include the building's namesake Willis Towers Watson, and law firms Schiff Hardin and Seyfarth Shaw.[9] Morgan Stanley became the building's fourth-largest tenant in 2017.[9][10]
^ abcdefghi"Willis Tower – The Skyscraper Center". Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. June 13, 2015. Archived from the original on December 23, 2019. Retrieved June 13, 2015.
^de la Merced, Michael J. (March 16, 2014). "Blackstone Group Purchases Landmark Willis Tower in Chicago". The New York Times. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
^ ab"History and Facts - Willis Tower". willistower.com.
^Disputed due to the fact that the Willis/Sears Tower is taller than the Petronas Towers by roof height and highest occupied floor."Petronas vs. Sears Tower Controversy". Retrieved February 24, 2024.
^"Willis Tower owner seeks thousands of new visitors per day, as $500 million expansion takes shape". Chicago Tribune. September 13, 2018. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
^McClelland, Edward (June 5, 2019). "Chicagoans Refuse to Call These Places by Their Real Names". Chicago Magazine. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
^[1] Archived August 15, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
^Snyder, Brett (December 16, 2013). "A Day with United Management: Elite Status, Mileage Devaluation, and Increasing Change Fees". The Cranky Flier. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
^ abcEcker, Danny (April 16, 2018). "Morgan Stanley moving second office to Willis Tower". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
^"20 years after 9/11, a new crisis looms for Willis Tower". Crain's Chicago Business. September 1, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
The WillisTower, originally and still commonly referred to as the Sears Tower, is a 110-story, 1,451-foot (442.3 m) skyscraper in the Loop community area...
WillisTowers Watson plc, branded as WTW and stylised in its logo as wtw, is a British-American multinational company providing insurance services. The...
9 meters (30 feet) higher than the flat roof of Willis, the Petronas Towers are not taller than Willis. At their convention in Chicago, the Council on...
skyscraper to top of antenna: 829.8 m (2,722 ft) (previously the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower – 527 m or 1,729 ft) Building with most floors: 163 (previously...
Willis Group Holdings plc was a multinational risk advisor, insurance brokerage and reinsurance brokerage company with its headquarters in the Willis...
Petronas Towers, with their spires, are thus ranked higher than the WillisTower (formerly the Sears Tower) with its antennas, despite the Petronas Towers' lower...
— the tower's first fire. Moreover, other supertall structures built between 1967 and 1976 — such as the WillisTower (formerly the Sears Tower), the...
United Airlines, Inc. is a major American airline headquartered at the WillisTower in Chicago, Illinois. United operates an extensive domestic and international...
original on May 3, 2013. Retrieved May 3, 2013. "Tallest building ruling: WillisTower loses to One World Trade Center". Chicago Tribune. November 12, 2013...
Central Park Tower, 432 Park Avenue, 111 West 57th Street, and Chicago's WillisTower, which was formerly and is still commonly known as Sears Tower. Tribune...
110-story WillisTower (formerly the Sears Tower), which rises 1,451 feet (442 m) in the Chicago Loop and was completed in 1974. Sears Tower was the tallest...
while all other full-power television stations in Chicago broadcast from WillisTower. The City Colleges of Chicago's WYCC (channel 20) transmitted from the...
were both surpassed by construction of the 110-story WillisTower in Chicago in 1973. The Twin Towers remained the tallest buildings in New York City until...
on May 8, 2020. When completed, the tower will be the second-tallest building in Chicago, after the WillisTower, and one of the tallest buildings in...
The Petronas Towers (Malay: Menara Berkembar Petronas), also known as the Petronas Twin Towers and colloquially the KLCC Twin Towers, are an interlinked...
poorly received. Willis retired from acting in 2022 due to aphasia. He was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2023. As a singer, Willis released his...
self-supporting towers (such as the CN Tower), skyscrapers (such as the WillisTower), oil platforms, electricity transmission towers, and bridge support towers. This...
computer-aided design (CAD). He was the designer of the Sears Tower, since renamed WillisTower, the tallest building in the world from 1973 until 1998, and...
roof; the STLs link to WMAQ and WSNS's transmitter facilities atop the WillisTower. WMAQ radio/WSCR studios and STL were located in the building until 2006...
2016, Towers Watson merged with Willis Group to form WillisTowers Watson. Towers Watson was formed on January 4, 2010, by the merger of Towers Perrin...
informal name for the glass balconies on the observation deck of the WillisTower, Chicago The Ledge, shortened name of the Alberta Legislature Building...