One Dalton Building vs One Congress Building

Comparing the One Dalton Building and the One Congress Building is interesting because they both stand in Boston, MA, and were completed within 4 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 One Dalton Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 748ft (228m) with 61 floors above ground, while the One Congress Building reaches 646ft (197m) with 43 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 Dalton Building and the One Congress 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 both Pei Cobb Freed & Partners and Pelli Clark & Partners followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

The One Dalton Building follows a mixed-use model, combining residential and hotel. In contrast, the One Congress Building has remained primarily commercial.

The One Dalton Building incorporates a 5-star hotel with 215 rooms. More information is available at the official website.

The One Dalton Building offers 160 residential units.

The One Congress Building also provides 1160 parking spaces.

The two towers rely on different structural systems, reflecting distinct engineering strategies.

The One Dalton Building uses a Frame structural system, which relies on a regular grid of columns and beams to sustain its weight, while the One Congress Building uses a Framed Tube In Tube system, that combines a strong central core with a perimeter tube of columns.

Yet, when it comes to their facade, they both employed the same solution, a Curtain Wall facade.

A curtain wall is a non-load-bearing facade hung from the structural frame. It is anchored to floor slabs and transfers only its own weight and wind loads, allowing for sleek, glassy exteriors.