First City Tower

Infobox skyscraper
building_name= First City Tower
location= 1001 Fannin Street, Houston, Texas, USA
roof= 662 ft (202 m)
floor_count= 49
use= Office
status = Completed
construction_period= 1981
opening=
architect= Morris-Aubry
developer= Vinson & Elkins
owner= First City Liquidating Trust, JMB Realty
references= cite web|url=http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=5721|title=First City Tower|accessdate=2008-04-06|publisher=SkyscraperPage.com]

First City Tower is a skyscraper in Houston, Texas. The building rises convert|662|ft|m|0|lk=on in height.cite web|url=http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=1citytower-houston-tx-usa|title=First City Tower|accessdate=2008-04-06|publisher=Emporis.com] It contains 49 floors, and was completed in 1981. First City Tower currently stands as the 14th-tallest building in the city. The architectural firm who designed the building was Morris-Aubry, and the structure is an example of late-modernist architecture. The tower, which formerly housed the headquarters of the now-defunct First City National Bank, now serves as the global headquarters of Waste Management, Inc, the largest disposal service in the world.

The building is noted for its distinctive "staircase cuts" on the north and south facades, and is composed mostly of aluminum and green-tinted glass. These designs were designed to represent the letter "F" for the building's developer and first major tenant, First City Bank,cite web|url=http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/US/TX/HoustonFirstCity.html|title=First City Tower|accessdate=2008-04-06|publisher=Atrefaqs] which was itself a subisdiary of the international law frim Vinson & Elkins. First City Tower was constructed in a diagonal rotation away from Houston's main north-south street grid, which gives the impression that the structure has a larger footprint than it actually does.

Besides Waste Management and Vinson & Elkins, other major tenants of First City Tower include Insignia/ESG and Ocean Energy Inc..cite web|url=http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2002/10/28/focus13.html|title=First City Tower implements in-house courier service|date=2002-10-25|accessdate=2008-04-06|publisher=Houston Business Journal] In October 2002, the building became the first in Houston to implement an in-house courier intercept center in order to provide a central collection point for all inbound and outnound deliveries serving its several tenants.

ee also

* List of tallest buildings in Texas
* Architecture of Houston

References

External links

* [http://www.fctower.com/home.axis Official site]
* [http://www.emporis.com/en/il/im/?id=355789 Image of First City Tower on Emporis]