Onterie Center vs The Bell Building

Comparing the Onterie Center and the The Bell Building is interesting because they both rise in Chicago, IL, yet they were conceived by two different design teams, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Holabird & Root, and were completed at different points in time. They were finished over two decades apart.

This contrast within the same city allows us to see how different creative minds interpreted the evolving needs of Chicago across time.

Let's take a closer look!

The Onterie Center is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 571ft (174m) with 60 floors above ground, while the The Bell Building reaches 427ft (130m) with 31 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 Onterie Center and the The Bell Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Modern style.

Both buildings were completed when the Modern style was already past its peak. This makes them feel like late echoes of the movement, more reflective of continuity or nostalgia than of cutting-edge design at the time.

The Onterie Center follows a mixed-use model, combining residential, commercial, retail and hotel. In contrast, the The Bell Building has remained primarily .

Originally, the The Bell Building was designed for commercial, but over time it was converted to . The Onterie Center by contrast has maintained its original role.

The Onterie Center incorporates a -star hotel with 101 rooms. More information is available at the official website.

The Onterie Center offers 594 residential units.

The Onterie Center also provides 363 parking spaces.

The two buildings opted for different structural and facade solutions.

The Onterie Center uses a Trussed Tube system, which , while the The Bell Building uses a Framed Tube In Tube system, that combines a strong central core with a perimeter tube of columns.

And when it came to the facade, the Masonry went with a Masonry facade, which features a heavy masonry skin that gives it a more clasical look, while the The Bell Building opted for a Curtain Wall facade, that uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure.