200 Liberty Street Building vs Bank of America Corporate Center

Comparing the 200 Liberty Street Building and the Bank of America Corporate Center is compelling because they were both designed by Cesar Pelli & Associates, yet they stand in different cities (New York, NY and Charlotte, NC), and were completed more than 6 years apart.

What this will allow us to see, is how the same firm's approach adapted to different places at roughly the same time (6 years isn't that much time when it comes to urban context and architecture).

The Bank of America Corporate Center is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 869ft (265m) with 60 floors above ground, while the 200 Liberty Street Building reaches 577ft (176m) with 40 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.

Both the 200 Liberty Street Building and the Bank of America Corporate Center were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Postmodernism style.

The Bank of America Corporate Center was designed at a moment when the Postmodernism style was already in decline, making it more of a lingering expression of the movement. In contrast, the 200 Liberty Street Building was built when the style still carried greater cultural weight.

Both the 200 Liberty Street Building and the Bank of America Corporate 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.

Both towers provide significant parking capacity, with 200 Liberty Street Building offering 232 spaces and the Bank of America Corporate Center offering 1200.

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

The 200 Liberty Street Building uses a Frame structural system, which relies on a regular grid of columns and beams to sustain its weight, while the Bank of America Corporate 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.