Republic Plaza Building vs Trump International Hotel and Tower

Comparing the Republic Plaza Building and the Trump International Hotel and Tower is compelling because they were both designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, yet they stand in different cities (Denver, CO and Chicago, IL), 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 Trump International Hotel and Tower is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 1181ft (360m) with 92 floors above ground, while the Republic Plaza Building reaches 715ft (218m) with 56 floors above ground.

Despite being taller and having more floors, Trump International Hotel and Tower has less total built-up area than Republic Plaza Building.

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 Trump International Hotel and Tower 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 Trump International Hotel and Tower followed the then mainstream Contemporary, embodying the dominant architectural direction of its time.

With 25 years between them, the comparison also reflects how quickly architectural priorities can shift from one dominant language to another.

The Trump International Hotel and Tower follows a mixed-use model, combining hotel, residential and commercial. In contrast, the Republic Plaza Building has remained primarily commercial.

The Trump International Hotel and Tower incorporates a 5-star hotel with 339 rooms. More information is available at the official website.

The Trump International Hotel and Tower offers 486 residential units.

The Trump International Hotel and Tower also provides 960 parking spaces.

The two buildings opted for different structural and facade solutions.

The Republic Plaza Building uses a Framed Tube In Tube system, which combines a strong central core with a perimeter tube of columns, while the Trump International Hotel and Tower uses a Frame system, that relies on a regular grid of columns and beams to sustain its weight.

And when it came to the facade, the Modular went with a Modular facade, which employs prefabricated panels, often mixing solid surfaces with smaller windows, while the Trump International Hotel and Tower opted for a Curtain Wall facade, that uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure.