461 Fifth Avenue Building vs 250 Vesey Street Building

461 Fifth Avenue Building
250 Vesey Street Building

Comparing the 461 Fifth Avenue Building and the 250 Vesey Street Building is interesting because they both stand in New York, NY, and were completed within 3 years of each other, 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.

Height
115m
Floors
26

Height & Size

Height
152m
Floors
34

The 250 Vesey Street Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 499ft (152m) with 34 floors above ground, while the 461 Fifth Avenue Building reaches 377ft (115m) with 26 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.

Style
Postmodernism

Architectural Style

Style
Postmodernism

Both the 461 Fifth Avenue Building and the 250 Vesey Street Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Postmodernism style.

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

Main use
Commercial

Uses

Main use
Commercial

Both the 461 Fifth Avenue Building and the 250 Vesey Street 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.

Structure
Trussed Frame
Facade
Modular

Structure & Facade

Structure
Frame
Facade
Curtain Wall

The two buildings opted for different structural and facade solutions.

The 461 Fifth Avenue Building uses a Trussed Frame system, which uses diagonal bracing in addition to beams and columns for stability, while the 250 Vesey Street Building uses a Frame system, that relies on a regular grid of columns and beams to sustain its weight.

And when it came to the facade, the Modular went with a Modular facade, which employs prefabricated panels, often mixing solid surfaces with smaller windows, while the 250 Vesey Street Building opted for a Curtain Wall facade, that uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure.

461 Fifth Avenue Building 250 Vesey Street Building
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Architect César Pelli & Associates
1988 Construction Started 1984
1989 Year Completed 1986
Postmodernism Architectural Style Postmodernism
Commercial Current Use Commercial
26 Floors Above Ground 34
115 m Height (m) 152 m
Trussed Frame Structure Type Frame
Steel Vertical Structure Material Steel
Steel, Concrete Horizontal Structure Material Concrete
No Facade Structural? No
Pre Cast Concrete, Glass Main Facade Material Granite, Glass
Mitsui Fudosan, London & New York Estates, And Colonial Property Group Developer Olympia & York Companies
NY State NY
New York City New York
461 Fifth Avenue Address 250 Vesey Street