1201 North Market Street Building vs One World Trade Center

Comparing the 1201 North Market Street Building and the One World Trade Center is compelling because they were both designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, yet they stand in different cities (Wilmington, DE and New York, NY), and were completed over two decades apart.

What this will allow us to see, is how the same firm's approach adapted to different places in different periods of time.

The One World Trade Center is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 1775ft (541m) with 104 floors above ground, while the 1201 North Market Street Building reaches 361ft (110m) with 23 floors above ground.

Of course, each project may have faced different briefs or regulatory constraints, which we don't really know about and could also explain the outcome.

The 1201 North Market Street Building was designed in the Modern style, while the One World Trade Center reflects the principles of Contemporary.

The 1201 North Market Street Building represents a late expression of the Modern, a style already in decline in 1988 when it was completed. By contrast, the One World Trade Center followed the then mainstream Contemporary, embodying the dominant architectural direction of its time.

With 26 years between them, the comparison also reflects how quickly architectural priorities can shift from one dominant language to another.

Both the 1201 North Market Street Building and the One World Trade Center were designed to serve as commercial towers, and that has remained their main use since their completion, serving similar roles in the urban fabric.

The 1201 North Market Street Building also provides 475 parking spaces.

Both the 1201 North Market Street Building and the One World Trade Center rely on a Framed Tube In Tube structural system.

A tube-in-tube system combines a reinforced central core with a perimeter of columns connected by floor slabs. This arrangement creates a stiff structure that resists both vertical and lateral forces efficiently.

They also employ the same type of facade, a Curtain Wall facade.

A curtain wall is a non-load-bearing facade hung from the structural frame. It is anchored to floor slabs and transfers only its own weight and wind loads, allowing for sleek, glassy exteriors.