The Harrison Building vs 181 Fremont Building

Comparing the The Harrison Building and the 181 Fremont Building is interesting because they both stand in San Francisco, CA, 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 181 Fremont Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 810ft (247m) with 56 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 Harrison Building and the 181 Fremont 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 both Solomon Cordwell Buenz and Heller Manus 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 The Harrison Building is primarily residential, while the 181 Fremont Building is primarily commercial.

In terms of capacity, the The Harrison Building offers 298 apartments, while the 181 Fremont Building provides 55 units.

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

The The Harrison Building uses a Frame structural system, which relies on a regular grid of columns and beams to sustain its weight, while the 181 Fremont Building uses a Trussed Tube In Tube system, that combines a central core with a perimeter tube reinforced by diagonal bracing.

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.