River Point Tower vs St. Regis Chicago

Comparing the River Point Tower and the St. Regis Chicago is interesting because they both stand in Chicago, IL, and were completed within 4 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 St. Regis Chicago is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 1194ft (364m) with 101 floors above ground, while the River Point Tower reaches 732ft (223m) with 52 floors above ground.

St. Regis Chicago also offers more total built-up area, a total fo 1,900,001 sqf (176,516m²), which is about 100,007 sqf (9,291m²) more than what the River Point Tower 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 River Point Tower and the St. Regis Chicago were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Contemporary style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So both Pickard Chilton and Studio Gang Architects followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

The River Point Tower is primarily commercial, while the St. Regis Chicago is primarily residential.

The St. Regis Chicago incorporates a 5-star hotel with 192 rooms. More information is available at the official website.

The St. Regis Chicago offers 393 residential units.

Both towers provide significant parking capacity, with River Point Tower offering 160 spaces and the St. Regis Chicago offering 295.

The two towers rely on different structural systems, reflecting distinct engineering strategies.

The River Point Tower uses a Framed Tube In Tube structural system, which combines a strong central core with a perimeter tube of columns, while the St. Regis Chicago uses a Frame system, that relies on a regular grid of columns and beams to sustain its weight.

Yet, when it comes to their facade, they both employed the same solution, 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.