McAllister Tower Apartments vs Central Tower

Comparing the McAllister Tower Apartments and the Central Tower is interesting because they both rise in San Francisco, CA, yet they were conceived by two different design teams, Lewis P. Hobart and Albert Roller, and were completed at different points in time. They were finished more than 8 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 McAllister Tower Apartments is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 308ft (94m) with 28 floors above ground, while the Central Tower reaches 299ft (91m) with 21 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 McAllister Tower Apartments and the Central Tower were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Art Deco style.

The Central Tower was designed at a moment when the Art Deco style was already in decline, making it more of a lingering expression of the movement. In contrast, the McAllister Tower Apartments was built when the style still carried greater cultural weight.

The McAllister Tower Apartments is primarily residential, while the Central Tower is primarily commercial.

Originally, the McAllister Tower Apartments was designed for hotel, but over time it was converted to residential. The Central Tower by contrast has maintained its original role.

These two towers illustrate the many possible ways to combine structure and enclosure in skyscraper design.