The Williams Tower is a 64-story, 1.4e6sqft class A office tower located in the Uptown District of Houston, Texas. The building was designed by New York-based John Burgee Architects with Philip Johnson in association with Houston-based Morris-Aubry Architects . Construction began in August, 1981 and was completed in December, 1982. The tower is among Houston's most visible buildings and is the 4th-tallest in Texas, the 31st-tallest in the United States, and the 140th-tallest building in the world. The Williams Tower is the tallest building in Houston outside of Downtown Houston, and at the time of its construction was believed to be the world's tallest skyscraper outside of a central business district.HistoryReal estate developers Gerald D. Hines Interests hired New York-based John Burgee Architects with Philip Johnson to design the building, in association with Houston-based Morris-Aubry Architects (now known as Morris Architects).Construction was completed in 1983.The building was named the Transco Tower after its first major tenant, Transco Energy Co. Transco Energy Co. merged with the Williams Companies in 1995 and in 1999 the name of the building was changed to the Williams Tower.
