Citadel Center vs BMO Tower

Comparing the Citadel Center and the BMO Tower is interesting because they both rise in Chicago, IL, yet they were conceived by two different design teams, Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura and Goettsch Partners , and were completed at different points in time. They were finished more than a decade apart.

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

Let's take a closer look!

The BMO Tower is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 728ft (222m) with 51 floors above ground, while the Citadel Center reaches 581ft (177m) with 37 floors above ground.

Despite being taller and having more floors, BMO Tower has less total built-up area than Citadel Center.

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 Citadel Center and the BMO Tower 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 both Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura and Goettsch Partners 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 Citadel Center and the BMO 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 Citadel Center offering 211 spaces and the BMO Tower offering 324.

Both the Citadel Center and the BMO Tower 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.