NBC Tower vs University Club Tower

Comparing the NBC Tower and the University Club Tower is compelling because they were both designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, yet they stand in different cities (Chicago, IL and Milwaukee, WI), and were completed a decade apart.

What this will allow us to see, is how the same firm's approach adapted to different places in different periods of time.

The NBC Tower is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 561ft (171m) with 37 floors above ground, while the University Club Tower reaches 446ft (136m) with 34 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.

The NBC Tower was designed in the Art Deco style, while the University Club Tower reflects the principles of Contemporary.

The NBC Tower represents a late expression of the Art Deco, a style already in decline in 1989 when it was completed. By contrast, the University Club Tower followed the then mainstream Contemporary, embodying the dominant architectural direction of its time.

The NBC Tower is primarily commercial, while the University Club Tower is primarily residential.

The University Club Tower offers 53 residential units.

Both towers provide significant parking capacity, with NBC Tower offering 261 spaces and the University Club Tower offering 106.

These two towers illustrate the many possible ways to combine structure and enclosure in skyscraper design.