Pennzoil Place, the pair of 36-story towers in front of you, is described as Houston's most award-winning skyscraper. Designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee from a concept by Eli Attia, the project—completed in 1976—is widely known for its innovative design and is described as Houston’s most award-winning skyscraper. Take a moment to take in the bold geometry: two 495-foot trapezoidal towers, mirror images of one another, placed just ten feet apart and sheathed in dark bronze glass and aluminum.
The entire street-level plaza between them is enclosed beneath a 115-foot glass pyramid-shaped atrium, a dramatic public room that unites the pair. The complex was developed and managed by Gerald D. Hines Interests, and in May 1976 Deutsche Bank and partners in a West German investment group bought a 90 percent interest in the building for $100 million. Over the decades tenants shifted—Arthur Andersen vacated about 300,000 square feet here in 2002—and the development was placed for sale for the first time since construction in 2025.
Dark bronze glass catches the light on both towers, and the 115-foot glass pyramid between them gathers the plaza into one dramatic public room.