28 Liberty Street Building vs Gas Company Tower

28 Liberty Street Building
Gas Company Tower

Comparing the 28 Liberty Street Building and the Gas Company Tower is compelling because they were both designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, yet they stand in different cities (New York, NY and Los Angeles, CA), 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.

Height
248m
Floors
60

Height & Size

Height
228m
Floors
52

The 28 Liberty Street Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 814ft (248m) with 60 floors above ground, while the Gas Company Tower reaches 748ft (228m) with 52 floors above ground.

28 Liberty Street Building also offers more total built-up area, a total fo 2,240,000 sqf (208,103m2), which is about 458,252 sqf (42,573m2) more than what the Gas Company Tower offers.

By contrast, the 28 Liberty Street Building sits on a site with a lower floor area ratio.

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.

Style
International Style

Architectural Style

Style
Postmodernism

The 28 Liberty Street Building was designed in the International Style style, while the Gas Company Tower reflects the principles of Postmodernism.

The Gas Company Tower represents a late expression of the Postmodernism, a style already in decline in 1991 when it was completed. By contrast, the 28 Liberty Street Building followed the then mainstream International Style, embodying the dominant architectural direction of its time.

With 30 years between them, the comparison also reflects how quickly architectural priorities can shift from one dominant language to another.

Main use
Commercial

Uses

Main use
Commercial

Both the 28 Liberty Street Building and the Gas Company 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.

Structure
Frame
Facade
Curtain Wall

Structure & Facade

Structure
Frame
Facade
Curtain Wall

Both the 28 Liberty Street Building and the Gas Company Tower rely on a Frame structural 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.

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.

28 Liberty Street Building Gas Company Tower
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Architect Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
1957 Construction Started 1988
1961 Year Completed 1991
International Style Architectural Style Postmodernism
Commercial Current Use Commercial
60 Floors Above Ground 52
5 Floors Below Ground 8
248 m Height (m) 228 m
208103 Built-up Area (m²) 165530
204,387 m² Usable Area (m²) 133,026 m²
37 Number of Elevators 28
Frame Structure Type Frame
Concrete And Steel Vertical Structure Material Steel
Concrete Horizontal Structure Material Concrete
Yes Facade Structural? No
Aluminum, Glass Main Facade Material Glass, Steel
Turner Construction Company Main Contractor Turner Construction
Chase Manhattan Bank N.A. Developer Thomas Properties Group
Isamu Noguchi, And Jean Dubuffet Collaborating Artist Frank Stella
NY State CA
New York City Los Angeles
28 Liberty Street Address 555 West 5th Street