Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building vs James Oviatt Building

Comparing the Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building and the James Oviatt Building is interesting because they both stand in Los Angeles, CA, and were completed within 3 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.

These two towers present an interesting contrast in their proportions. The Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building rises higher at 207ft (63m), while the James Oviatt Building reaches 161ft (49m). However, the James Oviatt Building accommodates more floors with 13 levels above ground, compared to 12 floors in the Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building.

This suggests different approaches to interior space design. The Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building has an average floor-to-floor height of approximately 5.3m, while the James Oviatt Building has more compact floors averaging around 3.8m each. The taller building's more generous floor heights might indicate grander interior spaces, higher ceilings, or different programmatic requirements.

These different proportions likely reflect the specific needs each building was designed to serve, whether driven by zoning regulations, client requirements, or the intended use of the spaces within. The contrast shows how architects can achieve different spatial experiences even when working with similar overall building scales.

Both the Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building and the James Oviatt Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Art Deco style.

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

The Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building is primarily residential, while the James Oviatt Building is primarily commercial.

Originally, the Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building was designed for commercial, but over time it was converted to residential. The James Oviatt Building by contrast has maintained its original role.

The Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building offers 74 residential units.

The Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building also provides 98 parking spaces.

These two towers illustrate the many possible ways to combine structure and enclosure in skyscraper design.