2311
Global
Height rank

One Prudential Plaza

Chicago
  • Facts
Height 183.2 m / 601 ft
Floors 41
Official Name
The current legal building name.

One Prudential Plaza

Other Names
Other names the building has commonly been known as, including former names, common informal names, local names, etc.

Prudential Building

Name of Complex
A complex is a group of buildings which are designed and built as pieces of a greater development.

Prudential Plaza

Type
CTBUH collects data on two major types of tall structures: 'Buildings' and 'Telecommunications / Observation Towers.' A 'Building' is a structure where at least 50% of the height is occupied by usable floor area. A 'Telecommunications / Observation Tower' is a structure where less than 50% of the structure's height is occupied by usable floor area. Only 'Buildings' are eligible for the CTBUH 'Tallest Buildings' lists.

Building

Status
Completed
Architecturally Topped Out
Structurally Topped Out
Under Construction
Proposed
On Hold
Never Completed
Vision
Competition Entry
Canceled
Proposed Renovation
Under Renovation
Renovated
Under Demolition
Demolished

Completed, 1955

Country
The CTBUH follows the United Nations's definition of Country, and thus uses the lists and codes established by that organization.

United States

City
The CTBUH follows the United Nations's definition of City, and thus uses the lists and codes established by that organization.

Chicago

Address

130 East Randolph Street

Postal Code

60601

Function
A single-function tall building is defined as one where 85% or more of its usable floor area is dedicated to a single usage. Thus a building with 90% office floor area would be said to be an "office" building, irrespective of other minor functions it may also contain.

A mixed-use tall building contains two or more functions (or uses), where each of the functions occupy a significant proportion of the tower's total space. Support areas such as car parks and mechanical plant space do not constitute mixed-use functions. Functions are denoted on CTBUH "Tallest Building" lists in descending order, e.g., "hotel/office" indicates hotel function above office function.

office

Structural Material
Steel
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from steel. Note that a building of steel construction with a floor system of concrete planks or concrete slab on top of steel beams is still considered a “steel” structure as the concrete elements are not acting as the primary structure.

Reinforced Concrete
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from concrete which has been cast in place and utilizes steel reinforcement bars.

Precast Concrete
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning system are constructed from steel reinforced concrete which has been precast as individual components and assembled together on-site.

Mixed-Structure
Utilizes distinct systems (e.g. steel, concrete, timber), one on top of the other. For example, a steel/concrete indicates a steel structural system located on top of a concrete structural system, with the opposite true of concrete/steel.

Composite
A combination of materials (e.g. steel, concrete, timber) are used together in the main structural elements. Examples include buildings which utilize: steel columns with a floor system of reinforced concrete beams; a steel frame system with a concrete core; concrete-encased steel columns; concrete-filled steel tubes; etc. Where known, the CTBUH database breaks out the materials used in a composite building’s core, columns, and floor spanning separately.

steel

Official Website

Prudential Plaza

Height
Architectural
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the architectural top of the building, including spires, but not including antennae, signage, flag poles or other functional-technical equipment. This measurement is the most widely utilized and is employed to define the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) rankings of the "World's Tallest Buildings."

183.2 m / 601 ft

To Tip
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the highest point of the building, irrespective of material or function of the highest element (i.e., including antennae, flagpoles, signage and other functional-technical equipment).
278.0 m / 912 ft
Floors Above Ground
The number of floors above ground should include the ground floor level and be the number of main floors above ground, including any significant mezzanine floors and major mechanical plant floors. Mechanical mezzanines should not be included if they have a significantly smaller floor area than the major floors below. Similarly, mechanical penthouses or plant rooms protruding above the general roof area should not be counted. Note: CTBUH floor counts may differ from published accounts, as it is common in some regions of the world for certain floor levels not to be included (e.g., the level 4, 14, 24, etc. in Hong Kong).

41

# of Elevators
Number of Elevators refers to the total number of elevator cars (not shafts) contained within a particular building (including public, private and freight elevators).

30

Tower GFA
Tower GFA refers to the total gross floor area within the tower footprint, not including adjoining podiums, connected buildings or other towers within the development.

163,787 m² / 1,762,989 ft²

Rankings
  • By Location
#
2311
Tallest in the World
#
394
Tallest in North America
#
49
Tallest in Chicago
#
1032
Tallest Office Building in the World
#
226
Tallest Office Building in North America
#
25
Tallest Office Building in Chicago
#
208
Tallest Steel Building in the World
#
124
Tallest Steel Building in North America
#
115
Tallest Steel Building in United States
#
7
Tallest Steel Building in Chicago
Construction Schedule
1952

Construction Start

1955

Completed

Owner
Sterling Bay
Architect
Design

Usually involved in the front end design, with a "typical" condition being that of a leadership role through either Schematic Design or Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.
Naess & Murphy
Structural Engineer
Design

The Design Engineer is usually involved in the front end design, typically taking the leadership role in the Schematic Design and Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.
Naess & Murphy
Main Contractor

The main contractor is the supervisory contractor of all construction work on a project, management of sub-contractors and vendors, etc. May be referred to as "Construction Manager," however, for consistency CTBUH uses the term "Main Contractor" exclusively.
George A. Fuller Co.
Other Consultant

Other Consultant refers to other organizations which provided significant consultation services for a building project (e.g. wind consultants, environmental consultants, fire and life safety consultants, etc).
Artist
Iannelli Studio

Research

24 August 2015

World’s Highest Observation Decks

CTBUH Research

Perhaps no element of a tall building is more closely related to the pure pleasure of standing high in the sky and taking in the...

About One Prudential Plaza

When completed in 1955, One Prudential Plaza became the second tallest building in Chicago and ended a two-decade long hiatus of tall office building construction within the city due to the economic impacts of the Great Depression and World War II. At the time of the project’s conception, the site was a freight yard owned by the Illinois Central Railroad and required the use of air rights to construct the building above the active railroad tracks, a practice which was repeated for the adjacent buildings constructed later as part of the larger Illinois Center complex. While the freight yards have since disappeared, passenger service remains for commuter trains serving the South Side of Chicago, southern suburbs and Northern Indiana, with One Prudential Plaza offering direct access to the Millennium Station located beneath street level.

The façade of the mid-century building has hints of the previously popular Art Deco style, maintaining strong vertical lines of uninterrupted limestone piers separated by bays of recessed windows set into aluminum spandrels. The main entrance is set back from Randolph Street with an entry plaza flanked by two portions of the building’s lower floors that extend outward to the edges of the property. One of these extensions of the building’s lower floorplates features a portion of the façade dedicated to a relief of the Rock of Gibraltar by artist Alfonso Iannelli, representing the logo of the Prudential Company.

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