Bank of America Plaza (Dallas)
Encyclopedia
Bank of America Plaza is a 72-story late-modernist
Modern architecture
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...

 skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...

 located in the Main Street District of downtown Dallas
Downtown Dallas
Downtown Dallas is the Central Business District in Dallas, Texas USA, located in the geographic center of the city. The area termed "Downtown" has traditionally been defined as bounded by the downtown freeway loop: bounded on the east by I-345 Downtown Dallas is the Central Business District...

, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. Standing at a structural height of 921 ft (280.7 m), it is the tallest skyscraper in the city of Dallas. It is also the 3rd tallest in Texas
Tallest buildings in Texas
This list of tallest buildings in Texas ranks skyscrapers in the U.S. state of Texas by height. The tallest structure in the state, excluding radio towers, is the JPMorgan Chase Tower, which rises and was completed in 1982. The second-tallest building in Texas is the Wells Fargo Plaza, which...

 and the 22nd tallest in the United States, while also being the 91st tallest building in the world. It contains 1900000 sq ft (176,515.8 m²) of office space. The building was designed by JPJ Architects, Inc. and Bramalea LTD. The original owner was a joint venture arraingement including Prudential Insurance, Bramalea, LTD and InterFirst Bank. Construction began in 1983 and finished in 1985.

Lighting

The building's outline is accented at night by green argon
Argon
Argon is a chemical element represented by the symbol Ar. Argon has atomic number 18 and is the third element in group 18 of the periodic table . Argon is the third most common gas in the Earth's atmosphere, at 0.93%, making it more common than carbon dioxide...

 lighting that runs along all of the building's edges.

The skyscraper was one of the first buildings in the United States to receive the Energy Star
Energy Star
Energy Star is an international standard for energy efficient consumer products originated in the United States of America. It was first created as a United States government program during the early 1990s, but Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan and the European Union have also adopted...

 award for electrical efficiency.

Broadcast and communications center

The top two floors function as a broadcast communications tower using the building itself as a broadcast tower structure. ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and WB-TV operate television transmission facilities on the 72nd floor and 74th level roof as well as most federal law enforcement agencies. All point-to-point microwave
Microwave
Microwaves, a subset of radio waves, have wavelengths ranging from as long as one meter to as short as one millimeter, or equivalently, with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. This broad definition includes both UHF and EHF , and various sources use different boundaries...

 and fixed-service antennas are concealed within a specifically designed glass communications parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...

 on the top floor. The base of the 73rd floor parapet opens to the 72nd floor data and communications center below allowing for easy and safe access during installation and servicing of wireless devices. It also protects the hardware from weather. The building operates a sophisticated in-building distributed antenna system as well as a shared tenant data center. Telecommunication Properties, Inc. designed this facility in 1985.

Amateur radio
Amateur radio
Amateur radio is the use of designated radio frequency spectrum for purposes of private recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergency communication...

 operators also install repeater systems on this building. W5EBQ has a 2 meter and 70 cm repeater system installed on the top of this building.

History

The development was originally called the Dallas Main Center, then InterFirst Bank Plaza, next Republic Bank Plaza, then First Republic Bank Plaza, followed by NCNB
North Carolina National Bank
North Carolina National Bank was a bank based in Charlotte, North Carolina, prior to 1960 called American Commercial Bank. It was one of the top banking institutions.-History:...

 Plaza, NationsBank
NationsBank
NationsBank was one of the largest banking corporations in the United States, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1998, it acquired BankAmerica to become Bank of America.-Corporate history:...

 Plaza, and finally Bank of America
Bank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...

 Plaza in 1998.

See also

  • Tallest buildings in Dallas
  • Tallest buildings in Texas

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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