One Congress Building vs Winthrop Center Building

Comparing the One Congress Building and the Winthrop Center Building is interesting because they both stand in Boston, MA, and were completed in the same year, 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 Winthrop Center Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 689ft (210m) with 48 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 Congress Building and the Winthrop Center 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 Pelli Clark & Partners and Handel Architects followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

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

The Winthrop Center Building offers 317 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 Congress Building uses a Framed Tube In Tube structural system, which combines a strong central core with a perimeter tube of columns, while the Winthrop Center Building uses a Frame system, that relies on a regular grid of columns and beams to sustain its weight.

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.