60 State Street Building vs One International Place Building

Comparing the 60 State Street Building and the One International Place Building is interesting because they both rise in Boston, MA, yet they were conceived by two different design teams, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Johnson/Burgee Architects, and were completed at different points in time. They were finished more than a decade apart.

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

Let's take a closer look!

The One International Place Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 600ft (183m) with 46 floors above ground, while the 60 State Street Building reaches 509ft (155m) with 38 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 60 State Street Building and the One International Place 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 Johnson/Burgee Architects followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

Both the 60 State Street Building and the One International Place 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.

Both towers provide significant parking capacity, with 60 State Street Building offering 240 spaces and the One International Place Building offering 400.

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 60 State Street Building uses a Curtain Wall facade, while the One International Place Building uses a Window Wall facade.

A Curtain Wall facade like the one seen in the 60 State Street Building uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure, while a window-wall facade like the one seen in the One International Place Building uses panels fitted between floor slabs, leaving slab edges visible.