Pennzoil Place vs Williams Tower

Comparing the Pennzoil Place and the Williams Tower is particularly interesting because they share the same skyline in Houston, TX, and were both designed by Johnson/Burgee Architects. However, they were completed more than 8 years apart.

This offers a unique perspective on how the architect's style and the city's architecture evolved over time.

The Williams Tower is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 902ft (275m) with 64 floors above ground, while the Pennzoil Place reaches 522ft (159m) with 36 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 Pennzoil Place and the Williams Tower 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 Johnson/Burgee Architects 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 Pennzoil Place and the Williams Tower 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 Pennzoil Place offering 525 spaces and the Williams Tower offering 3280.

Both the Pennzoil Place and the Williams Tower 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.