60 State Street Building vs One Lincoln Street Building

Comparing the 60 State Street Building and the One Lincoln Street Building is interesting because they both rise in Boston, MA, yet they were conceived by two different design teams, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and TRO Jung Brannen , and were completed at different points in time. They were finished over two decades apart.

This contrast within the same city allows us to see how different creative minds interpreted the evolving needs of Boston across time.

Let's take a closer look!

The 60 State Street Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 509ft (155m) with 38 floors above ground, while the One Lincoln Street Building reaches 463ft (141m) with 36 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 60 State Street Building and the One Lincoln Street Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Postmodernism style.

The One Lincoln Street Building was designed at a moment when the Postmodernism style was already in decline, making it more of a lingering expression of the movement. In contrast, the 60 State Street Building was built when the style still carried greater cultural weight.

Both the 60 State Street Building and the One Lincoln Street 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.

Both towers provide significant parking capacity, with 60 State Street Building offering 240 spaces and the One Lincoln Street Building offering 900.

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

The 60 State Street Building uses a Frame structural system, which relies on a regular grid of columns and beams to sustain its weight, while the One Lincoln Street 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.