One California Plaza vs FourFortyFour South Flower Building

Comparing the One California Plaza and the FourFortyFour South Flower Building is interesting because they both stand in Los Angeles, CA, 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.

The FourFortyFour South Flower Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 623ft (190m) with 48 floors above ground, while the One California Plaza reaches 577ft (176m) with 42 floors above ground.

FourFortyFour South Flower Building also offers more total built-up area, a total fo 1,071,277 sqf (99,525m²), which is about 21,280 sqf (1,977m²) more than what the One California Plaza offers.

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 California Plaza and the FourFortyFour South Flower Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Modern style.

Both buildings were completed when the Modern 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 One California Plaza and the FourFortyFour South Flower 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.

Both towers provide significant parking capacity, with One California Plaza offering 1313 spaces and the FourFortyFour South Flower Building offering 600.

Both the One California Plaza and the FourFortyFour South Flower Building 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.