One Atlantic Center vs Two International Place Building

Comparing the One Atlantic Center and the Two International Place Building is an interesting exercise, because even though they are located in different cities (Atlanta, GA and Boston, MA), both were designed by Johnson/Burgee Architects and finished within within 5 years of each other. This gives us the chance to see how the same architect's ideas were expressed in different urban contexts almost simultaneously.

The One Atlantic Center is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 820ft (250m) with 50 floors above ground, while the Two International Place Building reaches 538ft (164m) with 35 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 One Atlantic Center and the Two International Place Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Postmodernism style.

The Two International Place Building was designed at a moment when the Postmodernism style was already in decline, making it more of a lingering expression of the movement. In contrast, the One Atlantic Center was built when the style still carried greater cultural weight.

Both the One Atlantic Center and the Two International Place 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 One Atlantic Center also provides 2200 parking spaces.

Both towers share the same structural solution, a Framed Tube In Tube system.

A tube-in-tube system combines a reinforced central core with a perimeter of columns connected by floor slabs. This arrangement creates a stiff structure that resists both vertical and lateral forces efficiently.

However, when it comes to the facade, both buildings use different approaches. The One Atlantic Center uses a Curtain Wall facade, while the Two International Place Building uses a Modular facade.

A Curtain Wall facade like the one seen in the One Atlantic Center uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure, while a modular facade like the one seen in the Two International Place Building employs prefabricated panels, often mixing solid surfaces with smaller windows.