60 State Street Building vs Federal Reserve Bank Building

Comparing the 60 State Street Building and the Federal Reserve Bank Building is interesting because they both stand in Boston, MA, and were completed in the same year, but they were designed by different architects.

This offers a unique glimpse at how rival designers approached projects in the same city during the same era.

These two towers present an interesting contrast in their proportions. The Federal Reserve Bank Building rises higher at 614ft (187m), while the 60 State Street Building reaches 509ft (155m). However, the 60 State Street Building accommodates more floors with 38 levels above ground, compared to 32 floors in the Federal Reserve Bank Building.

This suggests different approaches to interior space design. The Federal Reserve Bank Building has an average floor-to-floor height of approximately 5.8m, while the 60 State Street Building has more compact floors averaging around 4.1m each. The taller building's more generous floor heights might indicate grander interior spaces, higher ceilings, or different programmatic requirements.

These different proportions likely reflect the specific needs each building was designed to serve, whether driven by zoning regulations, client requirements, or the intended use of the spaces within. The contrast shows how architects can achieve different spatial experiences even when working with similar overall building scales.

Both the 60 State Street Building and the Federal Reserve Bank Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Postmodernism style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So both Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Stubbins and Associates 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 60 State Street Building and the Federal Reserve Bank 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 60 State Street Building also provides 240 parking spaces.

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