Houston City Hall vs City National Bank Building

Comparing the Houston City Hall and the City National Bank Building is interesting because they both rise in Houston, TX, yet they were conceived by two different design teams, Joseph Finger and Alfred C. Finn, 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 Houston across time.

Let's take a closer look!

The City National Bank Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 285ft (87m) with 23 floors above ground, while the Houston City Hall reaches 0ft (m) with 17 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 Houston City Hall and the City National Bank Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Art Deco style.

Both buildings were completed when the Art Deco style was already past its peak. This makes them feel like late echoes of the movement, more reflective of continuity or nostalgia than of cutting-edge design at the time.

The Houston City Hall is primarily governmental, while the City National Bank Building is primarily commercial.

The City National Bank Building also provides 777 parking spaces.

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