Heritage at Millennium Park vs Loews Hotel Tower

Comparing the Heritage at Millennium Park and the Loews Hotel Tower is particularly interesting because they share the same skyline in Chicago, IL, and were both designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz. However, they were completed more than 10 years apart.

This offers a unique perspective on how the architect's style and the city's architecture evolved over time.

The Heritage at Millennium Park is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 631ft (192.4m) with 57 floors above ground, while the Loews Hotel Tower reaches 568ft (173m) with 52 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 Heritage at Millennium Park and the Loews Hotel Tower 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 towers follow a mixed-use program. The Heritage at Millennium Park combines residential and retail, while the Loews Hotel Tower integrates hotel and residential. Notably, both include residential as part of their program.

The Loews Hotel Tower incorporates a 4-star hotel with 400 rooms. More information is available at the official website.

In terms of capacity, the Heritage at Millennium Park offers 359 apartments, while the Loews Hotel Tower provides 389 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 Heritage at Millennium Park uses a Modular facade, while the Loews Hotel Tower uses a Curtain Wall facade.

A Modular facade like the one seen in the Heritage at Millennium Park employs prefabricated panels, often mixing solid surfaces with smaller windows, while a curtain-wall facade like the one seen in the Loews Hotel Tower uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure.