HOUSTON | Bank of the Southwest Tower | 1,404 FT / 428 M | 82 FLOORS | NEVER BUILT
 

Bank of the Southwest Tower

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...dings/bosw.jpg

This was actually a serious proposal until about 1990. Didn't go through because of the oil bust. Sad.

Height concerns:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w...ans/FAASWC.jpg

It was going to be an all-office tower. I think the basic design is being used for a tower going up in Dubai.

...was this the tower designed by Helmut Jahn?

It's a nice tower, but I don't have to say that it looks like several others.

What a loss!

This is my favorite building that was never built. It would have looked amazing in downtown Houston!

actually, the 'several others' were based on this proposal.

79th Floor, 360 degree observation deck.

That alone makes me wish this was built.

In that case, it's a shame it was never built.

Damn oil bust. Wish the oil boom could have lasted an extra three years or so, and this tower would have happened here in Houston.

Longterm it would've been a nice addition but in the short and mid terms it would've made the mid to late 80s bust even worse for the office market--even if it had shifted to become the late 80s/early 90s bust.

There is another one out there with a restaurant inside a dome at the very top. I used to have a rendering of it and it is in a book about that skyscraper competition. Anyone have it?

Oh well. Such is the way of economic cycles. Denver lost it's fair share of office towers in the 80's to the oil bust as well. Here is my fav lost tower: Reliance Center http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=148924

Wow, this would have been an amazing building in Houston. I really like the look of it. I think they style of it would have fit in perfectly in the downtown core. Too bad.

Here is another I found online somewhere:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...lee/banksw.gif

I think that was KPF's submission into the design competition.

Where did you find it?

Hey, it lived on. Helmut Jahn recycles.

Houston's been screwed by the FAA more than once. Chase (then Texas Commerce Tower) was supposed to be over 1100 ft tall, but the feds made them chop off a few stories because of Hobby.

ugh I hate Hobby Airpot...errrr

Now, it is said that the original Chase Tower height (over 1100 feet) would not be too tall for planes going into Hobby. Just how it was in the 80's.

Not really a shame that this was never realized; it's a little too cheesy I think. Houston's current tallest is leagues better than this.