555 California Street Building vs 345 California Center

Comparing the 555 California Street Building and the 345 California Center is particularly interesting because they share the same skyline in San Francisco, CA, and were both designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. However, they were completed more than 17 years apart.

This offers a unique perspective on how the architect's style and the city's architecture evolved over time.

The 555 California Street Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 778ft (237m) with 52 floors above ground, while the 345 California Center reaches 620ft (189m) with 48 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 555 California Street Building and the 345 California Center were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Postmodernism style.

Back then, thePostmodernism was still an emerging movement, so both giving it a pioneering role. By contrast, the 345 California Center came later, when the style was already more established.

The 345 California Center follows a mixed-use model, combining commercial and hotel. In contrast, the 555 California Street Building has remained primarily commercial.

The 345 California Center incorporates a 5-star hotel with 155 rooms. More information is available at the official website.

Both towers provide significant parking capacity, with 555 California Street Building offering 450 spaces and the 345 California Center offering 180.

The two buildings opted for different structural and facade solutions.

The 555 California Street Building uses a Framed Tube In Tube system, which combines a strong central core with a perimeter tube of columns, while the 345 California Center 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 Curtain Wall went with a Curtain Wall facade, which uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure, while the 345 California Center opted for a Window Wall facade, that uses panels fitted between floor slabs, leaving slab edges visible.