One Penn Plaza vs Lever House

Comparing the One Penn Plaza and the Lever House is interesting because they both rise in New York, NY, yet they were conceived by two different design teams, Kahn & Jacobs and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 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 New York across time.

Let's take a closer look!

The One Penn Plaza is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 751ft (229m) with 57 floors above ground, while the Lever House reaches 307ft (93.57m) with 21 floors above ground.

One Penn Plaza also offers more total built-up area, a total fo 2,523,995 sqf (234,487m²), which is about 2,261,050 sqf (210,059m²) more than what the Lever House 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 Penn Plaza and the Lever House were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the International Style style.

The One Penn Plaza 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 Penn Plaza 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.

The One Penn Plaza also provides 695 parking spaces.

Both the One Penn Plaza 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.