One Front Street Building vs 383 Madison Avenue Building

Comparing the One Front Street Building and the 383 Madison Avenue Building is compelling because they were both designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, yet they stand in different cities (San Francisco, CA and New York, NY), 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 383 Madison Avenue Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 755ft (230m) with 47 floors above ground, while the One Front Street Building reaches 538ft (164m) with 38 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 One Front Street Building was designed in the Postmodernism style, while the 383 Madison Avenue Building reflects the principles of Contemporary.

At the time of their completion, both styles were well established. This makes the comparison especially interesting, because both buildings represent a dominant aesthetic at a particular point in time.

Both the One Front Street Building and the 383 Madison Avenue 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 Front Street Building also provides 290 parking spaces.

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 One Front Street Building uses a Curtain Wall facade, while the 383 Madison Avenue Building uses a Modular facade.

A Curtain Wall facade like the one seen in the One Front Street Building uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure, while a modular facade like the one seen in the 383 Madison Avenue Building employs prefabricated panels, often mixing solid surfaces with smaller windows.