John Hancock Building building, and in 2011 conferred on it the Twenty-five Year Award. It has been the tallest building in Boston for more than 30 years and is the tallest building in New England. In 2002, Manulife Financial began construction of a 14-story building in the Seaport District at 601 Congress Street (Picture). The building was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP of Chicago, designers of the John Hancock Center in Chicago and the Sears Tower, also in Chicago. The building features a "green" (energy-efficient) dual glass curtain wall construction, making it among the first buildings in Boston to win national
Metropolitan Tower (Chicago) White, the Metropolitan Tower was named the Straus Building when completed in 1924. Though it was the first building in Chicago with 30 or more floors, it was never officially designated Chicago's tallest building since the Chicago Temple Building, also completed in 1924, is taller by but has seven fewer floors. The Straus Building and the Chicago Temple Building were the first to take advantage of the 1923 zoning ordinance; before then, no building in Chicago could be taller than . The Metropolitan Tower was at one time called the Continental National Insurance Company Building (later Continental Center I). From