345 California Center vs 101 California Street Building

Comparing the 345 California Center and the 101 California Street Building is interesting because they both stand in San Francisco, CA, and were completed within 4 years of each other, but they were designed by different architects.

This offers a unique glimpse at how rival designers approached projects in the same city during the same era.

Both the 345 California Center and the 101 California Street Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Postmodernism style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So both Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Johnson/Burgee Architects followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

The 345 California Center follows a mixed-use model, combining commercial and hotel. In contrast, the 101 California Street Building has remained primarily commercial.

The 345 California Center incorporates a 5-star hotel with 155 rooms. More information is available at the official website.

The 345 California Center also provides 180 parking spaces.

Both towers share the same structural solution, a Frame system.

A frame structure uses a grid of columns and beams to carry the building's loads. This frees the walls from structural duties, allowing for flexible floor plans and larger windows.

However, when it comes to the facade, both buildings use different approaches. The 345 California Center uses a Window Wall facade, while the 101 California Street Building uses a Curtain Wall facade.

A Window Wall facade like the one seen in the 345 California Center uses panels fitted between floor slabs, leaving slab edges visible, while a curtain-wall facade like the one seen in the 101 California Street Building uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure.