One World Trade Center vs Four Seasons New York Downtown

Comparing the One World Trade Center and the Four Seasons New York Downtown is interesting because they both stand in New York, NY, and were completed within 2 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.

The One World Trade Center is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 1775ft (541m) with 104 floors above ground, while the Four Seasons New York Downtown reaches 925ft (282m) with 82 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 One World Trade Center 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 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill 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 World Trade Center 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 World Trade Center uses a Framed Tube In Tube system, which combines a strong central core with a perimeter tube of columns, 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.