555 California Street Building vs 575 Market Street Tower at Market Center

Comparing the 555 California Street Building and the 575 Market Street Tower at Market Center is interesting because they both rise in San Francisco, CA, yet they were conceived by two different design teams, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Hertzka & Knowles, and were completed at different points in time. They were finished more than 6 years apart.

This contrast within the same city allows us to see how different creative minds interpreted the evolving needs of San Francisco across time.

Let's take a closer look!

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 575 Market Street Tower at Market Center reaches 574ft (175m) with 40 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 575 Market Street Tower at Market 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 575 Market Street Tower at Market Center came later, when the style was already more established.

Both the 555 California Street Building and the 575 Market Street Tower at Market Center 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 555 California Street Building also provides 450 parking spaces.

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 575 Market Street Tower at Market 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 575 Market Street Tower at Market Center opted for a Window Wall facade, that uses panels fitted between floor slabs, leaving slab edges visible.