One PPG Place vs BNY Mellon Center Pittsburgh Building

Comparing the One PPG Place and the BNY Mellon Center Pittsburgh Building is interesting because they both stand in Pittsburgh, PA, 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 BNY Mellon Center Pittsburgh Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 725ft (221m) with 54 floors above ground, while the One PPG Place reaches 636ft (194m) with 40 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 PPG Place and the BNY Mellon Center Pittsburgh Building 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 both Johnson/Burgee Architects and Welton Becket and Associates 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 PPG Place and the BNY Mellon Center Pittsburgh 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 One PPG Place also provides 700 parking spaces.

Both the One PPG Place and the BNY Mellon Center Pittsburgh Building 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.