Hyatt Center

Hyatt Center is an office tower in Chicago completed in 2005. The 48 story skyscraper stands at 679 feet (207 m) on 71 South Wacker Drive.

Pei Cobb Freed & Partners' striking elliptical steel and glass design is reminiscent of Tour EDF, a skyscraper in Paris, France designed by the same firm.

The 1,765,000 square foot (164,000 m²) building contains 65,000 cubic yards (50,000 m³) of concrete and 12,000 tons of structural steel. It took about 2,700 truckloads to excavate the building's foundation, and 1,300,000 man hours over nearly two years to finish. 28 high speed elevators serve Hyatt Center.

The building features extensive landscaping both inside and outside from bamboo groves, complete with fountains, lining the modern lobby to lush green grass in raised curved stone planters that surround the building. The Hyatt Center also contains art panels by Keith Tyson and a trompe l'oeil mural by Ricci Albenda.

The anchor tenant of the building is Mayer Brown LLP, which occupies floors 32-45 and shares the floor 2 cafe with a few of the other tenants.

Previous concept

Originally, the Pritzker Realty Group intended for British architect Lord Norman Foster to design what was then called Pritzker Tower to house the offices of the Global Hyatt Corporation and other family holdings. However, plans for the 60 story building were scrapped due to financial considerations & the uncertainty of global events after the terrorist attacks on 9/11.

ee also

*List of skyscrapers
*List of tallest buildings in the United States
*List of tallest buildings in Chicago
*World's tallest structures

References

* [http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=148153 Emporis listing]
* [http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=102135 Emporis listing for Pritzker Tower]
* [http://www.hyattcenterinfo.com/ Hyatt Center Website]
* [http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0109260317sep26.story "Chicago Tribune" - "Industry woes end Pritzker tower plan" by Thomas A. Corfman]