One Front Street Building vs One Montgomery Tower

Comparing the One Front Street Building and the One Montgomery Tower is especially interesting because they share much in common. Both rise in San Francisco, CA both were designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and they were completed in the same year.

This overlap gives us a unique opportunity to understand how Skidmore, Owings & Merrill approached different commissions in the same urban context and historical context during a short period.

Both the One Front Street Building and the One Montgomery Tower were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Postmodernism style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So Skidmore, Owings & Merrill followed what was in many ways expected at the time, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms rather, than breaking with convention.

Both the One Front Street Building and the One Montgomery Tower 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.

These two towers illustrate the many possible ways to combine structure and enclosure in skyscraper design.