One North Wacker Building vs Park Tower at Transbay

Comparing the One North Wacker Building and the Park Tower at Transbay is compelling because they were both designed by Goettsch Partners, yet they stand in different cities (Chicago, IL and San Francisco, CA), 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 One North Wacker Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 653ft (199m) with 50 floors above ground, while the Park Tower at Transbay reaches 604ft (184m) with 43 floors above ground.

One North Wacker Building also offers more total built-up area, a total fo 1,753,999 sqf (162,952m²), which is about 950,302 sqf (88,286m²) more than what the Park Tower at Transbay offers.

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 North Wacker Building and the Park Tower at Transbay were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Contemporary style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So both Goettsch Partners and Goettsch Partners followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

Both the One North Wacker Building and the Park Tower at Transbay 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 One North Wacker Building offering 220 spaces and the Park Tower at Transbay offering 117.

Both the One North Wacker Building and the Park Tower at Transbay 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.