Republic Plaza Building vs One World Trade Center

Comparing the Republic Plaza Building and the One World Trade Center is compelling because they were both designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, yet they stand in different cities (Denver, CO and New York, NY), and were completed over two decades 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 One World Trade Center is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 1775ft (541m) with 104 floors above ground, while the Republic Plaza Building reaches 715ft (218m) with 56 floors above ground.

One World Trade Center also offers more total built-up area, a total fo 3,500,000 sqf (325,161m²), which is about 2,264,897 sqf (210,416m²) more than what the Republic Plaza Building 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.

The Republic Plaza Building was designed in the Modern style, while the One World Trade Center reflects the principles of Contemporary.

The Republic Plaza Building represents a late expression of the Modern, a style already in decline in 1984 when it was completed. By contrast, the One World Trade Center followed the then mainstream Contemporary, embodying the dominant architectural direction of its time.

With 30 years between them, the comparison also reflects how quickly architectural priorities can shift from one dominant language to another.

Both the Republic Plaza Building and the One World Trade Center 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 share the same structural solution, a Framed Tube In Tube system.

A tube-in-tube system combines a reinforced central core with a perimeter of columns connected by floor slabs. This arrangement creates a stiff structure that resists both vertical and lateral forces efficiently.

However, when it comes to the facade, both buildings use different approaches. The Republic Plaza Building uses a Modular facade, while the One World Trade Center uses a Curtain Wall facade.

A Modular facade like the one seen in the Republic Plaza Building employs prefabricated panels, often mixing solid surfaces with smaller windows, while a curtain-wall facade like the one seen in the One World Trade Center uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure.