Pennzoil Place vs Ally Detroit Center

Comparing the Pennzoil Place and the Ally Detroit Center is compelling because they were both designed by Johnson/Burgee Architects, yet they stand in different cities (Houston, TX and Detroit, MI), and were completed a decade apart.

What this will allow us to see, is how the same firm's approach adapted to different places in different periods of time.

The Ally Detroit Center is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 607ft (185m) with 43 floors above ground, while the Pennzoil Place reaches 522ft (159m) with 36 floors above ground.

Ally Detroit Center also offers more total built-up area, a total fo 1,674,701 sqf (155,585m²), which is about 77,317 sqf (7,183m²) more than what the Pennzoil Place 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 Pennzoil Place and the Ally Detroit Center were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Postmodernism style.

The Ally Detroit Center was designed at a moment when the Postmodernism style was already in decline, making it more of a lingering expression of the movement. In contrast, the Pennzoil Place was built when the style still carried greater cultural weight.

Both the Pennzoil Place and the Ally Detroit Center are primarily commercial towers, serving similar roles in the urban fabric.

Both towers provide significant parking capacity, with Pennzoil Place offering 525 spaces and the Ally Detroit Center offering 2070.

Both the Pennzoil Place and the Ally Detroit Center 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.