1717 Broadway Building vs One World Trade Center

Comparing the 1717 Broadway Building and the One World Trade Center is interesting because they both stand in New York, NY, and were completed just one year apart, 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.

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 1717 Broadway Building reaches 715ft (218m) with 68 floors above ground.

One World Trade Center also offers more total built-up area, a total fo 3,500,000 sqf (325,161m²), which is about 3,160,001 sqf (293,574m²) more than what the 1717 Broadway Building offers.

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.

Both the 1717 Broadway Building and the One World Trade Center were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Contemporary style.

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

The 1717 Broadway Building is primarily hotel, while the One World Trade Center is primarily commercial.

The 1717 Broadway Building incorporates a 4-star hotel with 639 rooms. More information is available at the official website.

The two towers rely on different structural systems, reflecting distinct engineering strategies.

The 1717 Broadway Building uses a Frame structural system, which relies on a regular grid of columns and beams to sustain its weight, while the One World Trade Center uses a Framed Tube In Tube system, that combines a strong central core with a perimeter tube of columns.

Yet, when it comes to their facade, they both employed the same solution, 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.