QUOTE(JKC @ Jul 6 2006, 04:09 PM)
It has always been a little puzzling to me that there appears to be an overrun-overrun. Did I repeat myself? It looks excessive. Maybe the white portion was an afterthought to screen stuff on the roof?
By how much is it the tallest building?
JKC: You are correct. The upper 20 feet or so of the elevator overrun was an afterthought to screen stuff on the roof and an attempt to keep the claim of the tallest building in the city true, while the building was under construction. When the final design was completed after the building grew by 10 stories due to tenant demands, it was claimed the building was the tallest in the city. However, it's height was so close to the D.R. Horton Tower's height, when you took into account the two building's different ground floor elevation, it was determined that Burnett Plaza's elevator overrun was actually at a lower elevation above sea level than the elevation of the elevator overrun(s) at the D.R. Horton Tower. At the time, the main tenants were requiring communications equipment to be installed on the roof, so the decision was made to put that equipment on top of the overrun penthouse instead of leaving it exposed on the main roof. A structural grid was designed on top of the overrun as a base for the equipment (also allows easy access and service) and then a screen was designed to cover it all up. This killed two birds with one stone and with no doubt made the building the tallest in the city both in actual feet and height above sea level.
Burnett Plaza is 20 feet taller than the D.R. Horton Tower. For the most comprehensive list of building heights, go to
Fort Worth's Tallest Buildings, and below is a list of the Top 20 and their height in feet.
1 Burnett Plaza 567 ft.
2 D.R. Horton Tower 547 ft.
3 Carter+Burgess Plaza 525 ft.
Omni Fort Worth Hotel (Proposed between 499 and 544 ft.)4 The Tower 488 ft.
5 Wells Fargo Tower 477 ft.
6 Pier 1 Place 324 ft.
7 Transport Life Building 307 ft.
8 500 W. 7th 300 ft.
9 Southwestern Bell Telephone 295 ft.
10 Blackstone Hotel 268 ft.
11 Commerce Building 260 ft.
12 Two Tandy Center 258 ft./288 ft. with future rooftop addition
13 One Tandy Center 247 ft./277 ft. with future rooftop addition
14 Electric Service Building 234 ft.
15 W.T. Waggoner Building 230 ft.
16 Electric Building 229 ft.
17 Executive Plaza 228 ft.
18 Will Rogers Pioneer Tower 208 ft.
19 Tarrant County Justice Center Unknown height
20 Tarrant County Corrections Center 203 ft.
