John Hancock Center vs 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments

Comparing the John Hancock Center and the 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments is interesting because they both rise in Chicago, IL, yet they were conceived by two different design teams, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Mies van der Rohe, and were completed at different points in time. They were finished more than a decade apart.

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

Let's take a closer look!

The John Hancock Center is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 1129ft (344m) with 100 floors above ground, while the 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments reaches 269ft (82m) with 26 floors above ground.

John Hancock Center also offers more total built-up area, a total fo 2,799,970 sqf (260,126m²), which is about 2,066,949 sqf (192,026m²) more than what the 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments offers.

The John Hancock Center also concentrates more floor area on its site, indicating a higher floor area ratio.

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 John Hancock Center and the 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the International Style style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So both Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Mies van der Rohe followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

The John Hancock Center is primarily , while the 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments is primarily residential.

In terms of capacity, the John Hancock Center offers 703 apartments, while the 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments provides 248 units.

The John Hancock Center also provides 710 parking spaces.

The two towers rely on different structural systems, reflecting distinct engineering strategies.

The John Hancock Center uses a Trussed Tube In Tube structural system, which combines a central core with a perimeter tube reinforced by diagonal bracing, while the 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments uses a Frame system, that relies on a regular grid of columns and beams to sustain its weight.

Yet, when it comes to their facade, they both employed the same solution, a Window Wall facade.

A window wall system is installed between floor slabs. It is simpler and faster to build than curtain walls, but exposes slab edges and requires careful detailing to avoid thermal bridges.