Aqua Tower vs St. Regis Chicago

Comparing the Aqua Tower and the St. Regis Chicago is particularly interesting because they share the same skyline in Chicago, IL, and were both designed by Studio Gang Architects. However, they were completed more than 12 years apart.

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

The St. Regis Chicago is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 1194ft (364m) with 101 floors above ground, while the Aqua Tower reaches 859ft (261.8m) with 82 floors above ground.

Despite being taller and having more floors, St. Regis Chicago has less total built-up area than Aqua Tower.

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 Aqua Tower and the St. Regis Chicago were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Contemporary style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So Studio Gang Architects followed what was in many ways expected at the time, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms rather, than breaking with convention.

The Aqua Tower follows a mixed-use model, combining commercial, residential, hotel and parking. In contrast, the St. Regis Chicago has remained primarily residential.

Both towers incorporate hotels as part of their program. The Aqua Tower features a -star hotel with 225 rooms, while the St. Regis Chicago includes a 5-star hotel with 192 rooms. You can also visit the official website of the St. Regis Chicago.

In terms of capacity, the Aqua Tower offers 739 apartments, while the St. Regis Chicago provides 393 units.

Both towers provide significant parking capacity, with Aqua Tower offering 1557 spaces and the St. Regis Chicago offering 295.

The two buildings opted for different structural and facade solutions.

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