44 Montgomery Street Building vs First Market Tower

Comparing the 44 Montgomery Street Building and the First Market Tower is interesting because they both rise in San Francisco, CA, yet they were conceived by two different design teams, John Graham & Company and John Carl Warnecke, and were completed at different points in time. They were finished more than 6 years apart.

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

Let's take a closer look!

The 44 Montgomery Street Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 564ft (172m) with 43 floors above ground, while the First Market Tower reaches 528ft (161m) with 38 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 44 Montgomery Street Building and the First Market Tower were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the International Style style.

The First Market Tower 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 44 Montgomery Street Building was built when the style still carried greater cultural weight.

Both the 44 Montgomery Street Building and the First Market 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 the 44 Montgomery Street Building and the First Market 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.