One Vanderbilt vs Four Seasons New York Downtown

Comparing the One Vanderbilt and the Four Seasons New York Downtown is interesting because they both stand in New York, NY, and were completed within 4 years of each other, 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 One Vanderbilt rises higher at 1401ft (427m), while the Four Seasons New York Downtown reaches 925ft (282m). However, the Four Seasons New York Downtown accommodates more floors with 82 levels above ground, compared to 67 floors in the One Vanderbilt.

This suggests different approaches to interior space design. The One Vanderbilt has an average floor-to-floor height of approximately 6.4m, while the Four Seasons New York Downtown has more compact floors averaging around 3.4m 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 One Vanderbilt and the Four Seasons New York Downtown 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 Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and Robert A.M. Stern Architects followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

The Four Seasons New York Downtown follows a mixed-use model, combining residential and hotel. In contrast, the One Vanderbilt has remained primarily commercial.

The Four Seasons New York Downtown incorporates a 5-star hotel with 189 rooms. More information is available at the official website.

The Four Seasons New York Downtown offers 157 residential units.

The two buildings opted for different structural and facade solutions.

The One Vanderbilt uses a Trussed Frame system, which uses diagonal bracing in addition to beams and columns for stability, while the Four Seasons New York Downtown uses a Frame system, that relies on a regular grid of columns and beams to sustain its weight.

And when it came to the facade, the Curtain Wall went with a Curtain Wall facade, which uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure, while the Four Seasons New York Downtown opted for a Modular facade, that employs prefabricated panels, often mixing solid surfaces with smaller windows.