Century Plaza Towers vs Union Bank Plaza Tower

Comparing the Century Plaza Towers and the Union Bank Plaza Tower is interesting because they both rise in Los Angeles, CA, yet they were conceived by two different design teams, Minoru Yamasaki & Associates and Albert C. Martin & Associates, and were completed at different points in time. They were finished more than 7 years apart.

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

Let's take a closer look!

The Century Plaza Towers is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 571ft (174m) with 44 floors above ground, while the Union Bank Plaza Tower reaches 515ft (157m) with 40 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 Century Plaza Towers and the Union Bank Plaza Tower were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the International Style style.

The Century Plaza Towers was designed at a moment when the International Style style was already in decline, making it more of a lingering expression of the movement. In contrast, the Union Bank Plaza Tower style was already in decline, making it more of a lingering expression of the movement. In contrast, the Union Bank Plaza Tower was built when the style still carried greater cultural weight.

Both the Century Plaza Towers and the Union Bank Plaza Tower 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 Century Plaza Towers offering 5000 spaces and the Union Bank Plaza Tower offering 914.

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 Century Plaza Towers uses a Curtain Wall facade, while the Union Bank Plaza Tower uses a Window Wall facade.

A Curtain Wall facade like the one seen in the Century Plaza Towers uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure, while a window-wall facade like the one seen in the Union Bank Plaza Tower uses panels fitted between floor slabs, leaving slab edges visible.