Heller International Building Heller International Building The Heller International Building is a skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. The building rises 600 feet (183 m) in Chicago's Near West Side neighborhood. It contains 45 floors, and was completed in 1992. The Heller International Building currently stands as the 44th-tallest building in the city. The architectural firm who designed the building was Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the same firm who designed Chicago's Sears Tower and John Hancock Center and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The Heller International Building currently stands as the tallest building in Chicago situated west of the Chicago River. One year after its
Metropolitan Tower (Chicago) of this ornament, the building is sometimes referred to as the "Beehive Building." Just beneath the beehive are four carillon bells ranging in weight from 1,500 to 7,000 pounds, unused for many years until restored in 1979 for the Chicago visit of Pope John Paul II. At one time, the bells chimed the well-known Cambridge Quarters on the quarter-hours. The base has been altered from its original design: rectangular window openings replaced giant arches on Michigan Avenue and Jackson Boulevard. At one time, the thirtieth floor was the Straus Tower Observatory, which was open to the public for viewing the