Spear Tower at One Market Plaza vs BNY Mellon Center Pittsburgh Building

Comparing the Spear Tower at One Market Plaza and the BNY Mellon Center Pittsburgh Building is compelling because they were both designed by Welton Becket & Associates, yet they stand in different cities (San Francisco, CA and Pittsburgh, PA), and were completed more than 8 years apart.

What this will allow us to see, is how the same firm's approach adapted to different places at roughly the same time (8 years isn't that much time when it comes to urban context and architecture).

The BNY Mellon Center Pittsburgh Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 725ft (221m) with 54 floors above ground, while the Spear Tower at One Market Plaza reaches 564ft (172m) with 42 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.

The Spear Tower at One Market Plaza was designed in the International Style style, while the BNY Mellon Center Pittsburgh Building reflects the principles of Postmodernism.

The Spear Tower at One Market Plaza represents a late expression of the International Style, a style already in decline in 1976 when it was completed. By contrast, the BNY Mellon Center Pittsburgh Building followed the then mainstream Postmodernism, embodying the dominant architectural direction of its time.

Both the Spear Tower at One Market Plaza and the BNY Mellon Center Pittsburgh 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.

The Spear Tower at One Market Plaza also provides 162 parking spaces.

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 Spear Tower at One Market Plaza uses a Modular facade, while the BNY Mellon Center Pittsburgh Building uses a Curtain Wall facade.

A Modular facade like the one seen in the Spear Tower at One Market Plaza employs prefabricated panels, often mixing solid surfaces with smaller windows, while a curtain-wall facade like the one seen in the BNY Mellon Center Pittsburgh Building uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure.