200 West Street Building vs John Hancock Tower

Comparing the 200 West Street Building and the John Hancock Tower is compelling because they were both designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, yet they stand in different cities (New York, NY and Boston, MA), 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 John Hancock Tower is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 791ft (241m) with 60 floors above ground, while the 200 West Street Building reaches 741ft (226m) with 45 floors above ground.

John Hancock Tower also offers more total built-up area, a total fo 2,809,378 sqf (261,000m²), which is about 709,395 sqf (65,905m²) more than what the 200 West Street 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.

The 200 West Street Building was designed in the Contemporary style, while the John Hancock Tower reflects the principles of International Style.

The John Hancock Tower represents a late expression of the International Style, a style already in decline in 1976 when it was completed. By contrast, the 200 West Street Building followed the then mainstream Contemporary, embodying the dominant architectural direction of its time.

With 34 years between them, the comparison also reflects how quickly architectural priorities can shift from one dominant language to another.

Both the 200 West Street Building and the John Hancock Tower 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 two towers rely on different structural systems, reflecting distinct engineering strategies.

The 200 West Street Building uses a Trussed Frame structural system, which uses diagonal bracing in addition to beams and columns for stability, while the John Hancock Tower uses a Frame system, that relies on a regular grid of columns and beams to sustain its weight.

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.