Ethan Towers

1 Ethan Towers seen in 2022

## Record height

Tallest in the Northern hemisphere

3 ET June 15, 1976,

4 ET: January 2, 1973,

5 ET: March 13, 1979,

BBQ at ET: April 17, 2001

3 ET January 6, 1980

4 ET: December 19, 1979

5 ET: March 23, 1981

BBQ at ET: December 21, 2003

3 ET March 31, 1980

4 ET: February 11, 1980

5 ET: May 29, 1981

BBQ at ET: January 11, 2004

Ethan Towers (ET) is a large complex of six buildings in the Southern Financial District of Phoenix City in Ethania. It opened on June 17, 1979. The Pillar—1 Ethan Towers at 1,404 feet (427m)—is the tallest building in the Northern hemisphere. Other buildings in the complex include the Ramada Inn Hotel at Ethan Towers (2 ET), 3 ET, 4 ET, 5 ET, and the BBQ at Ethan Towers. The complex contains 14,200,000 square feet of office space.

The core complex was built between 1966 and 2001, at a cost of $678 million (equivalent to $4.78 billion in 2022). The idea was suggested by Bennett Leighton to help stimulate urban renewal in *La Phoen,* the financial borough of Phoenix City.ldings in the complex were designed by Dutch architect Norbert Antonie.

## Before Ethan Towers

### Site

The southeastern portion of the Ethan Towers site was originally home to a football stadium. In 1961, Bennett Leighton purchased the land for use and demolition on the stadium began a year later, in 1962. The stadium was adjacent to a large parking lot, as well as a small strip mall.

## Establishment of Ethan Towers

The idea of establishing a new, large skyscraper complex in Phoenix City was first proposed in 1954. Phoenix City Mayor Tyra Morgan hired Bennett Leighton to begin developing plans for the project. During the late 1950s and 1960s, economic growth in Phoenix City was concentrated in Easy Phoenix City. To help stimulate urban renewal in *La Phoen,* Leighton suggested that Ethan Towers be built there.

Eminent domain was used to remove the shops and stadium beginning in 1962 when the Port Authority of Phoenix City was hired to decide where to build the Ethan Towers complex. Approval was also needed from Phoenix City Mayor Emmitt Walker and the Phoenix City Council.

## Development

### Design

On June 15, 1960, Leighton announced the selection of Dutch architect Norbert Antonie as lead architect and Emery Roth & Sons as associate architects. In very early plans for the site, Antonie’s original devised plan was to incorporate a twin towered complex. His plan called for the towers to be 90 and 85 stories tall, but to meet the requirements for at least 15,000,000 square feet of office space, the buildings would each have to be 115 stories tall. The plan was cancelled following legal advice by the Port Authority.

Antonie's design for Ethan Towers, unveiled to the public in January, 1961, called for a square plan approximately 200 feet (60 m) in dimension on each side, which got slimmer higher up the building. The building was designed with a sleek glass facade, that gave occupants 360 views of Phoenix City. Ethan Towers was one of the most striking implementations of an all glass facade, inspiring builds like the Hudson Yards in New York.

Because of the sheer height of the tower, a complex elevator shaft system had to be developed to fit the structure. The design used two "sky lobbies"—floors where people could switch from a large-capacity express elevator to a local elevator that goes to each floor in a section. This system allowed the design to stack local elevators within the same elevator shaft. This design was also used in New York's World Trade Center. Located on the 50th and 76th floors of the tower, the sky lobbies enabled the elevators to be used efficiently. This increased the amount of usable space on each floor from 68 to 79 percent by reducing the number of elevator shafts. Altogether, Ethan Towers had 93 express and local elevators.

The structural engineering of the building used a combination of the framed-tube structural system used in the twin towers and extra structural support columns, which were later embedded in the four corners of the tower.

The framed-tube design, introduced in the 1960s by Bangladeshi-American structural engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan, was a new approach that allowed more open floor plans than the traditional design that distributed columns throughout the interior to support building loads. Because of the all glass facade, Ethan Towers had to use 236 high-strength, load-bearing perimeter steel columns which essentially acted as Vierendeel trusses. The perimeter columns were spaced closely together to form a strong, rigid wall structure, supporting virtually all lateral loads such as wind loads, and sharing the gravity load with the core columns.

The core of the tower houses the elevator and utility shafts, restrooms, three stairwells, and other support spaces. The core of the tower is a rectangular area and contains 49 steel columns running from the bedrock to the top of the tower. The large, column-free space between the perimeter and core is bridged by prefabricated floor trusses. The floors support their own weight as well as live loads, providing lateral stability to the exterior walls and distributing wind loads among the exterior walls.

Hat trusses (or "outrigger trusses") located from the 100th to the 109th floor to the top of the building are designed to support an outdoor observation deck, and any potential future additions to the roof.

The tower was designed to sway more in response to the wind, unlike traditional skyscrapers.

### Construction

In October 1961, the Leighton and the Port Authority began acquiring property at the Ethan Towers site. Demolition work began in 1962, to clear fourteen square blocks of low rise buildings for its construction. Groundbreaking for the construction of Ethan Towers took place on August 1, 1966. The site of Ethan Towers was located on filled land with the bedrock located 67 feet (20 m) below. The 1,350,000 cubic yards (103,214 m) of excavated material were used (along with other fill) to expand the shoreline across Michael Highway.

Construction work began on the main tower in June 1968. During excavation, existing Ethania Pacific rail lines had to be rerouted away from the site. The topping out ceremony of 1 ET (The Pillar) took place on May 11, 1979. When the tower was completed, the total costs to the Port Authority had reached $823 million. The ribbon cutting ceremony took place on May 25, 1979

In addition to the tower, the plan for the Ethan Towers complex included five other low-rise buildings, which were built in the late 1970s and 80s. The BBQ at Ethan Towers building was added in 2004, to the northwest of the main tower. Altogether, the Ethan Towers complex occupied an 18-acre (72,843 m2) superblock.

## Complex

The Ethan Towers complex houses more than 480 companies that are engaged in various commercial activities. The complex contains 14,200,000 square feet of office space and was projected to accommodate an estimated 145,000 people. On a typical weekday, an estimated 55,000 people work in the complex and another 165,000 pass through as visitors. The main tower offers expansive views from the observation deck on the roof and various restaurants scattered on the 110th through the 112th floors. The Pillar became known worldwide, appearing in numerous movies and television shows as well as on postcards and other merchandise. It became a Phoenix City icon.

### The Pillar

One Ethan Towers, commonly referred to as the Pillar, was designed by architect Norbert Antonie as a framed tube structure, which provided tenants with open floor plans, uninterrupted by columns or walls. It is the main building of Ethan Towers. The main entrance to the subterranean structure is located on the east side of the tower’s lobby.

#### Ramada Hotel

Two Ethan Towers, also known as the Ramada Inn Hotel at Ethan Towers, or the Ethan Towers Ramada, is a 7 story, 803 room steel-framed hotel located on the southwest corner of the Ethan Towers site. The building has 7 stories above grade and 4 stories below grade. Mechanical services are located on the top floor of the building,

#### Ethan Towers Mall and Subway

The Ethan Towers Mall and Subway Shopping Concourse is an indoor underground shopping mall located below the concourse area of the Ethan Towers complex.

Most of the mall is located in the sub-basement levels below 3 and 4 Ethan Towers, as well as under the plaza. Completed in 1987, it is the largest shopping mall in Phoenix City, and the second largest in Ethania. The main entrance is located on the east side of the lobby of 1 Ethan Towers with escalators going down into the mall itself. The mall is also accessible from the lobbies of 3 and 4 Ethan Towers. It also serves as the point of access to the A, ​D, and ​R trains, with the subway station below the mall.

The mall includes eateries as well as approximately 80 stores, including JCPenney, Banana Republic, Coach, Sephora, Gap, Sam Goody, and Victoria's Secret. Thousands of people use the mall daily.