One Liberty Plaza Building vs Lever House

Comparing the One Liberty Plaza Building and the Lever House is particularly interesting because they share the same skyline in New York, NY, and were both designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. However, they were completed more than 20 years apart.

This offers a unique perspective on how the architect's style and the city's architecture evolved over time.

The One Liberty Plaza Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 741ft (226m) with 54 floors above ground, while the Lever House reaches 307ft (93.57m) with 21 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 Liberty Plaza Building and the Lever House were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the International Style style.

The One Liberty Plaza Building was designed at a moment when the International Style style was already in decline, making it more of a lingering expression of the movement. In contrast, the Lever House style was already in decline, making it more of a lingering expression of the movement. In contrast, the Lever House was built when the style still carried greater cultural weight.

Both the One Liberty Plaza Building and the Lever House were designed to serve as commercial towers, and that has remained their main use since their completion, serving similar roles in the urban fabric.

Both the One Liberty Plaza Building and the Lever House rely on a Frame structural 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.

They also employ the same type of facade, 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.