Houston, We Have a Solution

Buyouts and mergers have repeatedly thwarted Houston's efforts to foster a native banking industry, even though the city has established itself as an energy center. The Wells Fargo Bank Plaza, which was formerly the Allied Bank Plaza and the First Interstate Bank Plaza, stands as a tall example.

Many have remarked the building, designed by Richard Keating in conjunction with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Lloyd Jones Brewer and Associates, resembles an abstracted dollar sign, though the architects have said that wasn’t the plan. However, the curved shape creates extreme wind stress that twists the building during storms. In 1983, the building lost many windows during Hurricane Alicia.

The plaza thwarts the wind-tunnel effect by placing pedestrian plazas and cafes below street level. This also provides easy access to the city's 2.5-mile, climate-controlled underground pedestrian system. From street level, the MetLife Bldg. is 71-stories tall, or 992 ft. (Houston claims it's the tallest, all-glass building in the Western Hemisphere), and extends four more stories below street level. Most tenants enter through pedestrian plazas at a lower level.

The building is owned by Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. and Metropolitan Tower Realty Co. In 2005, Metropolitan Life, through the project-management firm of CBRichard Ellis (CBRE), commissioned architectural firm Gensler to design and implement an amenity-enhancement program to ensure the building continues to offer its tenants top amenities and service. The $7 million program included extensive renovations to the main and sky lobbies, establishment of the Houstonian Lite fitness club, creation of a common-area executive boardroom and auditorium, a valet service for the tower's tenants and a new pylon sign.

CBRE commissioned LSI Graphic Solutions Plus (North Canton, OH) to fabricate and install the Gensler-designed pylon, which mimics the building's shape. Built over a Reliant Energy power vault, the 21-ft.-high structure comprises rolled aluminum panels that's supported by a steel-pole structure. The curved face facilitates tenant name changes.

Advertisement

Jerry Davis, engineering manager for LSI Graphic Solutions Plus' Houston location, said anchor bolts were drilled into the concrete slab, which covers the basement structure, and seated in epoxy to secure the sign. An elliptical-shaped concrete base was poured with reinforcing bars and a pattern of eight, mounting, anchor bolts for the sign’s steel structure. After the steel structure was mounted, curved granite cladding was installed, including stainless steel skate stops to discourage skateboarders from "grinding" the base.

The bottom cabinet houses 22 |2222| Xitanium 60W, 277VAC to 12VDC power supplies to power the Permlight for Signs El Plato White 747, 6,500K LEDs that backlight the grass-green, Plexiglass acrylic, push-through letters, reveals between the signs, and the acrylic fins along the side and oval cylinder on the top. SloanLED Colorline flexible LEDs installed on the sides utilize a Sloan, modular, 60W power supply with a dimmer switch and an Optotronic dimming module.

Each sign has an independent cabinet; LEDs illuminate the copy, the reveals and the fins, with a removable face for easy maintenance and to allow tenant-name changes. The cabinets are pre-wired for additional LEDs to illuminate additional sign faces. The total electrical load is 1,080W.