# How tall is the spire of Key Tower?

The Key Tower The structure rises 57 storeys, or 947 feet (289 meters), to the top of its spire, and can be seen from up to 20 miles (32 kilometers). The office area in the skyscraper is about 1.5 million square feet (139,355 m2). KeyCorp, a large regional financial services corporation, is the anchor tenant of Key Tower. It purchased the building as part of an expansion plan when it moved into its new headquarters in 1996.

Key Tower was the tallest building in Buffalo until 1990 when it was surpassed by One HSBC Plaza. Today, it is ranked as the 14th-tallest building in Buffalo and the 19th-tallest in New York State.

Key Bank now occupies the former offices of Chase Manhattan Bank on the first floor below street level. A small museum commemorating the history of the building is on site.

You can visit the top of Key Tower for one of two experiences: the KeyView Observatory or the KeySpan Theatre. The Observatory offers a view of the city while the theatre shows movies at night. Both attractions are free to visitors.

Key Tower was designed by architect Wallace K. Harrison with input from Albert Kahn. Construction began in 1972 and was completed four years later at a cost of $50 million. At the time of its completion, it was considered one of the most expensive single construction projects in U.S. history. ## How tall is a 500-story building? If erected, the tower would be two miles (3.2 km) tall and 500 storeys tall, with a total height of 3,218 meters (10,558 ft). It is one of the world's tallest buildings and man-made structures, but it will not be erected. The current record holder is the Shanghai Tower which at 318 m (1,071 ft) is almost twice as high. The building would be the second tallest structure in the world after the Burj Khalifa which is currently the tallest building in the world at 828 m (2,717 ft). It is estimated that it will remain so for at least another decade. The third tallest building is the World Trade Center Dubai which was completed in 2010 at 778 m (2553 ft). When it is complete, the building will be the most expensive single structure ever built - costing an estimated$9 billion. It will also be the most environmentally friendly building by using 95% less energy than the average skyscraper.

It is being designed by OMA/Bjarke Ingels Group and is expected to be finished in 2025. After this date it will be surpassed by several other buildings.

You may wonder why there are no more accurate measurements of the height of very tall buildings. The reason is that over time things get added or removed from these structures so they cannot be considered true records of their heights.

## How tall is the North Tower of the World Trade Center?

Each skyscraper has 47 floors and 110 stories, is 1368 feet tall (North Tower) and 1362 feet tall (South Tower). The total height of both towers together is 35 floors or 275 feet more than thought previously.

The length of a floor in a building is 8 feet. So, the volume of each floor is $8 \times 103.14\text{ ft}^3 = 7920\text{ ft}^3$. The total volume of all the floors is $7920\text{ ft}^3 + N \times 792\text{ ft}^3$, where "N" is the number of floors. The value of "N" is 50 for the North Tower and 46 for the South Tower.

The surface area of a floor is about 5000 square feet. So, the surface area of the whole tower is $50 \times 109.47\text{ ft}^2 = 558000\text{ ft}^2$. The volume of the air contained in the shaft between the two towers is $0.5 \times 792\text{ ft}^3 = 39.36\text{ ft}^3$. So, the ratio of the volume of the air to the total volume is about 9%.

## How tall are the antennas on the John Hancock building?

1500 meters It is 1,500 feet tall as measured from the top of its antenna masts (457 m). The structure houses various businesses and restaurants, as well as around 700 condominiums, and at the time of its construction, it housed the world's tallest dwelling.

The antennas on the John Hancock building are the largest in the world by far. They were originally built to broadcast radio signals that would reach all parts of North America. But over the years they have been used for many other purposes including TV broadcasting, weather reporting, and even music festivals.

Currently, Radio Shack uses one antenna for television broadcasts and another for radio services. The two antennas are different lengths and sit about 150 feet apart at the top of the building. They can be rotated together or separately to send out different signals.

The longer antenna is used for TV broadcasts while the shorter one is tuned to specific stations across the country to provide voice guidance in order to help listeners find the right channel. Both antennas face north toward Canada to ensure good reception.

Construction on the John Hancock building began in 1973 and was completed in 1976. At the time it was built, it was the most expensive building in the world (\$150 million).

##### Robert Norwood

Robert Norwood is a contractor and builder, who has been in the industry for over ten years. He is passionate about all things construction and design related. Robert has a background in architecture, which helps him to create buildings that are functional and beautiful to look at the same time.