Transamerica Pyramid vs 575 Market Street Tower at Market Center

Comparing the Transamerica Pyramid and the 575 Market Street Tower at Market Center is interesting because they both stand in San Francisco, 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.

The Transamerica Pyramid is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 853ft (260m) with 48 floors above ground, while the 575 Market Street Tower at Market Center reaches 574ft (175m) with 40 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 Transamerica Pyramid and the 575 Market Street Tower at Market Center were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Postmodernism style.

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

Both the Transamerica Pyramid and the 575 Market Street Tower at Market Center were designed to serve as commercial towers, and that has remained their main use since their completion, serving similar roles in the urban fabric.

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 Transamerica Pyramid uses a Modular facade, while the 575 Market Street Tower at Market Center uses a Window Wall facade.

A Modular facade like the one seen in the Transamerica Pyramid employs prefabricated panels, often mixing solid surfaces with smaller windows, while a window-wall facade like the one seen in the 575 Market Street Tower at Market Center uses panels fitted between floor slabs, leaving slab edges visible.