28 State Street Building vs 1585 Broadway Building

Comparing the 28 State Street Building and the 1585 Broadway Building is compelling because they were both designed by Emery Roth & Sons, yet they stand in different cities (Boston, MA 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 1585 Broadway Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 686ft (209m) with 42 floors above ground, while the 28 State Street Building reaches 499ft (152m) with 40 floors above ground.

1585 Broadway Building also offers more total built-up area, a total fo 1,302,432 sqf (121,000m²), which is about 730,438 sqf (67,860m²) more than what the 28 State 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 28 State Street Building was designed in the Modern style, while the 1585 Broadway Building reflects the principles of Postmodernism.

The 28 State Street Building represents a late expression of the Modern, a style already in decline in 1970 when it was completed. By contrast, the 1585 Broadway Building followed the then mainstream Postmodernism, embodying the dominant architectural direction of its time.

With 20 years between them, the comparison also reflects how quickly architectural priorities can shift from one dominant language to another.

Both the 28 State Street Building and the 1585 Broadway Building 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 28 State Street Building also provides 120 parking spaces.

Both towers share the same structural solution, a Frame 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.

However, when it comes to the facade, both buildings use different approaches. The 28 State Street Building uses a Modular facade, while the 1585 Broadway Building uses a Curtain Wall facade.

A Modular facade like the one seen in the 28 State Street Building employs prefabricated panels, often mixing solid surfaces with smaller windows, while a curtain-wall facade like the one seen in the 1585 Broadway Building uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure.