One Shell Plaza (OSP) is a 50-story, skyscraper at 910 Louisiana Street in

Downtown Houston Downtown is the largest central business district in the city of Houston and the largest in the state of Texas, located near the geographic center of the metropolitan area at the confluence of Interstate 10 in Texas, Interstate 10, Interstate 45, ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Perched atop the building is an

antenna Antenna ( antennas or antennae) may refer to: Science and engineering * Antenna (radio), also known as an aerial, a transducer designed to transmit or receive electromagnetic (e.g., TV or radio) waves * Antennae Galaxies, the name of two collid ...

that brings the overall height of the building to . At its completion in 1971, the tower was the tallest in the city.

Designers

One Shell Plaza was designed by the architectural firm of

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel A. Owings, Nathaniel Owings in Chicago, Illinois. In 1939, they were joined by engineer Jo ...

. Associate architects were Wilson, Morris, Crain & Anderson, and the landscape architects were

Sasaki Associates Sasaki is a design firm specializing in Architecture, Interior Design, Urban Design, Space Planning, Landscape Architecture, Ecology, Civil Engineering, and Place Branding. The firm is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, but practices on an i ...

. The Hancock Whitney Center in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

and Republic Plaza in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, also designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, have designs very similar to that of One Shell Plaza. Like One Shell Plaza, the Hancock Whitney Center also has Shell Oil as a major tenant, and was previously named One Shell Square.

Tenants

Shell Oil Company Shell USA, Inc. (formerly Shell Oil Company, Inc.) is the United States-based wholly owned subsidiary of Shell plc, a UK-based transnational corporation " oil major" which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 18,0 ...

, a subsidiary of Shell plc, was headquartered in this building until 2016. The law firm of

Baker Botts Baker Botts L.L.P. is an American law firm of around 725 lawyers. Headquartered in One Shell Plaza in Downtown Houston, Texas, the firm has energy and technology related clients. It is referred to as the second-oldest law firm west of the Mi ...

is also headquartered there. As of 2018,

NRG Energy NRG Energy, Inc. is an American energy company, headquartered in Houston, Texas. It was formerly the wholesale arm of Northern States Power Company (NSP), which became Xcel Energy, but became independent in 2000. NRG Energy is involved in ener ...

occupied the bottom 22 floors of the building. The Houston Club, on the 49th floor of the building, has dining, entertainment, and meeting facilities.One Shell Plaza
" ''Hines Interests Limited Partnership''. Retrieved on January 17, 2009.

History

The building opened in 1971 and was renovated in 1994. The $80 million in major renovations included an updated lobby and plaza, elevator modernization, upgrades to the buildings EMP systems, new lighting, and ADA modifications. In December 2011 Shell renewed the lease for . The new lease retroactively had the start date of January 1, 2011, and will last for 15 years, ending in 2025. In March 2012

Hines Interests Limited Partnership Hines Interests Limited Partnership is a privately held company that invests in and develops real estate. The company has developed, redeveloped or acquired 1,450 properties, comprising over 485 million square feet. The company currently manage ...

announced it was putting the building up for sale.Sarnoff, Nancy.
Major downtown HQ to hit the market
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

''. March 27, 2012. Retrieved on March 30, 2012.

Antennas

The 170 ft mast atop the building has carried various television and radio signals since the building's completion. The mast supported 1971 start up channel 26 KVRL (later KDOG, now KRIV) and a mast that simultaneously radiated signals for eight FM stations KYND (then 92.5, now KKBQ on 92.9 MHz), 93.7 KRLY (now KQBT), 95.7 KIKK-FM (now KKHH), 99.1

KODA KODA (99.1 FM, "Sunny 99.1") is an American commercial adult contemporary-formatted radio station in Houston, Texas. The station is owned by iHeartMedia. Its studios and offices are located along the West Loop Freeway in Uptown Houston. KODA ...

, 100.3

KILT-FM KILT-FM (100.3 MHz "The Bull 100.3") is a commercial radio station in Houston, Texas. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs a country music radio format. The studios and offices are in Greenway Plaza in Southwest Houston. KILT-FM serves as a co ...

, 101.1

KLOL KLOL (101.1 FM "Mega 101") is a commercial radio station in Houston, Texas. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs a Spanish-language Latin pop radio format. KLOL serves as the Spanish-language flagship station for the Houston Texans footb ...

, 102.1 KLYX (now KMJQ), and 104.1

KRBE KRBE (104.1 FM) is a commercial radio station in Houston, Texas. It is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts a Top 40 (CHR) radio format. The studios are located in Suite 700 of the Chase Building at 9801 Westheimer Road in the Westchase D ...

. The combiner and antenna was supplied by Electronic Research Inc. One Shell was used until the completion of the then Texas Commerce Tower and Allied Bank Plaza in 1982–1983, creating a skyscraper canyon that causes multipath distortion, and necessitated the move to the Houston

antenna farm Antenna farm or satellite dish farm or just dish farm are terms used to describe an area dedicated to television or radio telecommunications transmitting or receiving antenna equipment, such as C, Ku or Ka band satellite dish antennas, UHF/V ...

Missouri City Missouri City is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the metropolitan area. The city is mostly in Fort Bend County, Texas, Fort Bend County, with a small portion in Harris County, Texas, Harris County. As of the 2020 census, the c ...

Gallery

File:Downtown Houston 1971.jpg, Houston skyline in 1971 shortly after completion of the building

In popular culture

* The building was used as the exterior setting of 'World Oil', a fictional Houston-based firm, as part of initial storylines presented on the former NBC soap opera '' Another World'', but much more on its spinoff soap ''

'', which was set in Houston.

References

External links

FCC-Entry, which gives 300.2 metres as height with antenna
{{Shell oil Skyscraper office buildings in Houston Oil company headquarters in the United States Office buildings completed in 1971 Shell plc buildings and structures Skidmore, Owings & Merrill buildings 1971 establishments in Texas