One Montgomery Tower vs 345 California Center

Comparing the One Montgomery Tower and the 345 California Center 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 within 4 years of each other.

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.

The 345 California Center is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 620ft (189m) with 48 floors above ground, while the One Montgomery Tower reaches 499ft (152m) 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.

Both the One Montgomery Tower and the 345 California Center 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.

The 345 California Center follows a mixed-use model, combining commercial and hotel. In contrast, the One Montgomery Tower has remained primarily commercial.

The 345 California Center incorporates a 5-star hotel with 155 rooms. More information is available at the official website.

The 345 California Center also provides 180 parking spaces.

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