NEMA Chicago Building vs St. Regis Chicago

Comparing the NEMA Chicago Building and the St. Regis Chicago is interesting because they both stand in Chicago, IL, and were completed within 2 years of each other, but they were designed by different architects.

This offers a unique glimpse at how rival designers approached projects in the same city during the same era.

The St. Regis Chicago is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 1194ft (364m) with 101 floors above ground, while the NEMA Chicago Building reaches 896ft (273m) with 81 floors above ground.

St. Regis Chicago also offers more total built-up area, a total fo 1,900,001 sqf (176,516m²), which is about 578,624 sqf (53,756m²) more than what the NEMA Chicago Building offers.

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 NEMA Chicago Building and the St. Regis Chicago 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 both Rafael Viñoly and Studio Gang Architects followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

Both the NEMA Chicago Building and the St. Regis Chicago were designed to serve as residential towers, and that has remained their main use since their completion, serving similar roles in the urban fabric.

The St. Regis Chicago incorporates a 5-star hotel with 192 rooms. More information is available at the official website.

In terms of capacity, the NEMA Chicago Building offers 800 apartments, while the St. Regis Chicago provides 393 units.

Both towers provide significant parking capacity, with NEMA Chicago Building offering 500 spaces and the St. Regis Chicago offering 295.

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 NEMA Chicago Building uses a Window Wall facade, while the St. Regis Chicago uses a Curtain Wall facade.

A Window Wall facade like the one seen in the NEMA Chicago Building uses panels fitted between floor slabs, leaving slab edges visible, while a curtain-wall facade like the one seen in the St. Regis Chicago uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure.