One Rincon Hill South Tower vs Atwater Apartments Building

Comparing the One Rincon Hill South Tower and the Atwater Apartments Building is an interesting exercise, because even though they are located in different cities (San Francisco, CA and Chicago, IL), both were designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz and finished within just one year apart. This gives us the chance to see how the same architect's ideas were expressed in different urban contexts almost simultaneously.

The One Rincon Hill South Tower is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 640ft (195m) with 54 floors above ground, while the Atwater Apartments Building reaches 554ft (169m) with 53 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 Rincon Hill South Tower and the Atwater Apartments Building 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 Solomon Cordwell Buenz followed what was in many ways expected at the time, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms rather, than breaking with convention.

Both the One Rincon Hill South Tower and the Atwater Apartments Building were designed to serve as residential towers, and that has remained their main use since their completion, serving similar roles in the urban fabric.

In terms of capacity, the One Rincon Hill South Tower offers 390 apartments, while the Atwater Apartments Building provides 480 units.

Both towers provide significant parking capacity, with One Rincon Hill South Tower offering 455 spaces and the Atwater Apartments Building offering 401.

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