J.P. Morgan Chase Center, Skyscraper in downtown Houston, Texas, United States.
This office building rises to a height of three hundred five meters with seventy-five floors above ground, featuring a facade of polished granite, stainless steel, and dark-tinted glass with a distinctive forty-five-degree angled corner creating a five-sided profile.
Commissioned by Texas Commerce Bancshares and designed by I. M. Pei & Partners with 3D/International, the tower opened in 1981 as the Texas Commerce Tower at 600 Travis Street. Early plans called for 80 floors, but FAA concerns over flights at nearby William P. Hobby Airport led to the present height. It stood as the tallest building west of the Mississippi River until 1989, and remained the tallest in Texas until 2025.
The plaza at the tower's entrance holds Joan Miró's multicolored sculpture Personage and Birds, installed in early 1982. The work stands beside a water garden on the terrace, and the lobby's five-story glass wall opens the interior toward this outdoor space. The building occupies the site of the former Uptown Theatre, demolished in 1965.
The building houses commercial offices and connects directly to Houston's underground pedestrian tunnel system, providing climate-controlled access to surrounding buildings, with fifty-two elevators serving the tower's floors and four basement levels available for parking and mechanical systems.
The distinctive architectural feature of a corner sheared at a forty-five-degree angle creates a unique pentagonal footprint that distinguishes this tower from typical rectangular skyscrapers and provides occupants with wide westward views across the city.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,810 contributors worldwide.
