First Market Tower vs 425 Market Street Building

Comparing the First Market Tower and the 425 Market Street Building is interesting because they both stand in San Francisco, CA, 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.

Both the First Market Tower and the 425 Market Street Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the International Style style.

Both buildings were completed when the International Style 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.

Both the First Market Tower and the 425 Market Street 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 425 Market Street Building also provides 139 parking spaces.

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 First Market Tower uses a Curtain Wall facade, while the 425 Market Street Building uses a Window Wall facade.

A Curtain Wall facade like the one seen in the First Market Tower uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure, while a window-wall facade like the one seen in the 425 Market Street Building uses panels fitted between floor slabs, leaving slab edges visible.