Axa Equitable Center vs 250 Vesey Street Building

Comparing the Axa Equitable Center and the 250 Vesey Street Building is interesting because they both stand in New York, NY, and were completed in the same year, 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.

The Axa Equitable Center is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 751ft (229m) with 54 floors above ground, while the 250 Vesey Street Building reaches 499ft (152m) with 34 floors above ground.

Despite being taller and having more floors, Axa Equitable Center has less total built-up area than 250 Vesey Street Building.

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 Axa Equitable Center 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 Edward Larrabee Barnes 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.

Both the Axa Equitable Center 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.

Both the Axa Equitable Center and the 250 Vesey Street Building rely on a Frame structural 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.

They also employ the same type of facade, a Curtain Wall facade.

A curtain wall is a non-load-bearing facade hung from the structural frame. It is anchored to floor slabs and transfers only its own weight and wind loads, allowing for sleek, glassy exteriors.