One Worldwide Plaza vs 550 Madison Avenue

Comparing the One Worldwide Plaza and the 550 Madison Avenue is interesting because they both stand in New York, NY, and were completed within 5 years of each other, 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 One Worldwide Plaza is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 778ft (237m) with 47 floors above ground, while the 550 Madison Avenue reaches 646ft (197m) with 37 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 Worldwide Plaza and the 550 Madison Avenue 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 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Johnson/Burgee Architects 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 Worldwide Plaza and the 550 Madison Avenue 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 Worldwide Plaza offering 475 spaces and the 550 Madison Avenue offering 20.

Both towers share the same structural solution, a Frame 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.

However, when it comes to the facade, both buildings use different approaches. The One Worldwide Plaza uses a Masonry facade, while the 550 Madison Avenue uses a Modular facade.

A Masonry facade like the one seen in the One Worldwide Plaza features a heavy masonry skin that gives it a more clasical look, while a modular facade like the one seen in the 550 Madison Avenue employs prefabricated panels, often mixing solid surfaces with smaller windows.