The Fordham Building vs The Harrison Building

Comparing the The Fordham Building and the The Harrison Building is compelling because they were both designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz, yet they stand in different cities (Chicago, IL and San Francisco, CA), and were completed a decade 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 The Fordham Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 574ft (175m) with 50 floors above ground, while the The Harrison Building reaches 495ft (151m) with 49 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 The Fordham Building and the The Harrison Building 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 Solomon Cordwell Buenz 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 The Fordham Building and the The Harrison Building were designed to serve as residential towers, and that has remained their main use since their completion, serving similar roles in the urban fabric.

In terms of capacity, the The Fordham Building offers 224 apartments, while the The Harrison Building provides 298 units.

Both towers share the same structural solution, a Frame 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.

However, when it comes to the facade, both buildings use different approaches. The The Fordham Building uses a Modular facade, while the The Harrison Building uses a Curtain Wall facade.

A Modular facade like the one seen in the The Fordham Building employs prefabricated panels, often mixing solid surfaces with smaller windows, while a curtain-wall facade like the one seen in the The Harrison Building uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure.