- Neighborhood
- Downtown
- Year built
- 1963
- Style
- International Style / Late Modernist
- Era
- Mid-Century
- Architect
- Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (Edward C. Bassett)
- Designations
Significance
The Tenneco Building was completed in 1963 as the Tennessee Building for the Tennessee Gas Transmission Company, founded in Houston in 1943 to deliver natural gas by pipeline to defense plants during World War II. The company was renamed Tenneco in 1966, and the building took the new name. It was later known as the El Paso Energy Building and the Kinder Morgan Building. The 33 story tower was designed by Edward C. Bassett of the San Francisco office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. It has a fifty foot colonnade at the base, a dark gray aluminum exterior with deeply recessed windows, and pink Texas granite paving on its plaza. It is considered a prominent example of late modernist architecture in Houston.
Climate risks tracked
Click a risk to see what it means for this building.
The Tenneco Building's recessed windows, set back behind the aluminum grid, were designed to shade the glass from the Texas sun, an early example of climate responsive modern design. Preserving that shading depth while upgrading glazing for energy performance lets the tower handle rising summer heat without altering its distinctive facade. The tall curtain wall must withstand hurricane winds and debris common downtown during storms such as Hurricane Ike in 2008, so periodic inspection of panel anchorage and sealants is essential. Like other downtown towers linked to the tunnel system, below grade spaces need flood barriers and raised equipment.
Use the preservation assistant to talk through retrofit strategies for these specific threats.
Location
Nearby landmarks
Preservation Assistant
Grounded in Tenneco Building
Suggested questions
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