Millennium Centre vs Atwater Apartments Building

Comparing the Millennium Centre and the Atwater Apartments Building is particularly interesting because they share the same skyline in Chicago, IL, and were both designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz. However, they were completed more than 6 years apart.

This offers a unique perspective on how the architect's style and the city's architecture evolved over time.

The Millennium Centre is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 610ft (185.9m) with 58 floors above ground, while the Atwater Apartments Building reaches 554ft (169m) with 53 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 Millennium Centre and the Atwater Apartments Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Contemporary style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So Solomon Cordwell Buenz 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 Millennium Centre and the Atwater Apartments Building were designed to serve as residential towers, and that has remained their main use since their completion, serving similar roles in the urban fabric.

In terms of capacity, the Millennium Centre offers 341 apartments, while the Atwater Apartments Building provides 480 units.

Both towers provide significant parking capacity, with Millennium Centre offering 680 spaces and the Atwater Apartments Building offering 401.

Both towers share the same structural solution, a Frame 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.

However, when it comes to the facade, both buildings use different approaches. The Millennium Centre uses a Modular facade, while the Atwater Apartments Building uses a Curtain Wall facade.

A Modular facade like the one seen in the Millennium Centre employs prefabricated panels, often mixing solid surfaces with smaller windows, while a curtain-wall facade like the one seen in the Atwater Apartments Building uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure.