Kansas City City Hall vs Kansas City Power and Light Building

Comparing the Kansas City City Hall and the Kansas City Power and Light Building is interesting because they both rise in Kansas City, MO, yet they were conceived by two different design teams, Wight & Wight and Hoit, Price & Barnes, and were completed at different points in time. They were finished more than 6 years apart.

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

Let's take a closer look!

The Kansas City Power and Light Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 482ft (147m) with 34 floors above ground, while the Kansas City City Hall reaches 443ft (135m) with 30 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 Kansas City City Hall and the Kansas City Power and Light Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Art Deco style.

The Kansas City City Hall was designed at a moment when the Art Deco style was already in decline, making it more of a lingering expression of the movement. In contrast, the Kansas City Power and Light Building style was already in decline, making it more of a lingering expression of the movement. In contrast, the Kansas City Power and Light Building was built when the style still carried greater cultural weight.

The Kansas City City Hall is primarily government, while the Kansas City Power and Light Building is primarily residential.

Originally, the Kansas City Power and Light Building was designed for commercial, but over time it was converted to residential. The Kansas City City Hall by contrast has maintained its original role.

The Kansas City Power and Light Building offers 210 residential units.

Both the Kansas City City Hall and the Kansas City Power and Light 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 Masonry facade.

A masonry facade gives the building a heavier, more traditional appearance. It often conceals a frame structure behind it, creating the look of solid walls without carrying the main loads.