BNY Mellon Center Philadelphia Building vs Grant Thornton Tower

Comparing the BNY Mellon Center Philadelphia Building and the Grant Thornton Tower is an interesting exercise, because even though they are located in different cities (Philadelphia, PA and Chicago, IL), both were designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and finished within within 2 years of each other. This gives us the chance to see how the same architect's ideas were expressed in different urban contexts almost simultaneously.

The BNY Mellon Center Philadelphia Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 791ft (241m) with 54 floors above ground, while the Grant Thornton Tower reaches 755ft (230m) with 50 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 BNY Mellon Center Philadelphia Building and the Grant Thornton Tower were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Postmodernism style.

The Grant Thornton Tower was designed at a moment when the Postmodernism style was already in decline, making it more of a lingering expression of the movement. In contrast, the BNY Mellon Center Philadelphia Building was built when the style still carried greater cultural weight.

Both the BNY Mellon Center Philadelphia Building and the Grant Thornton 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.

The BNY Mellon Center Philadelphia Building also provides 160 parking spaces.

Both the BNY Mellon Center Philadelphia Building and the Grant Thornton 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.