One Post Street Building vs 555 California Street Building

Comparing the One Post Street Building and the 555 California Street Building is interesting because they both stand in San Francisco, CA, and were completed in the same year, but they were designed by different architects.

This offers a unique glimpse at how rival designers approached projects in the same city during the same era.

The 555 California Street Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 778ft (237m) with 52 floors above ground, while the One Post Street Building reaches 528ft (161m) with 38 floors above ground.

555 California Street Building also offers more total built-up area, a total fo 1,969,998 sqf (183,019m²), which is about 1,545,969 sqf (143,625m²) more than what the One Post Street Building 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 Post Street Building and the 555 California Street Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Postmodernism style.

Both were completed when the Postmodernism style was still emerging, placing them among the earliest examples of the movement and underscoring the avant-garde vision of their architects.

Both the One Post Street Building and the 555 California 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.

The 555 California Street Building also provides 450 parking spaces.

Both the One Post Street Building and the 555 California Street Building rely on a Framed Tube In Tube structural system.

A tube-in-tube system combines a reinforced central core with a perimeter of columns connected by floor slabs. This arrangement creates a stiff structure that resists both vertical and lateral forces efficiently.

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.