Leo Burnett Building vs 60 Wall Street Building

Comparing the Leo Burnett Building and the 60 Wall Street Building is an interesting exercise, because even though they are located in different cities (Chicago, IL and New York, NY), both were designed by Roche Dinkeloo & Associates and finished within in the same year. This gives us the chance to see how the same architect's ideas were expressed in different urban contexts almost simultaneously.

The 60 Wall Street Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 745ft (227m) with 55 floors above ground, while the Leo Burnett Building reaches 636ft (194m) with 46 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 Leo Burnett Building and the 60 Wall Street Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Postmodernism style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So Roche Dinkeloo & Associates followed what was in many ways expected at the time, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms rather, than breaking with convention.

Both the Leo Burnett Building and the 60 Wall Street 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.

The Leo Burnett Building also provides 113 parking spaces.

The two buildings opted for different structural and facade solutions.

The Leo Burnett Building uses a Trussed Tube In Tube system, which combines a central core with a perimeter tube reinforced by diagonal bracing, while the 60 Wall Street Building 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 Window Wall went with a Window Wall facade, which uses panels fitted between floor slabs, leaving slab edges visible, while the 60 Wall Street Building opted for a Curtain Wall facade, that uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure.