U.S. Bancorp Tower vs Gas Company Tower

Comparing the U.S. Bancorp Tower and the Gas Company Tower is compelling because they were both designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, yet they stand in different cities (Portland, OR and Los Angeles, CA), and were completed more than 8 years apart.

What this will allow us to see, is how the same firm's approach adapted to different places at roughly the same time (8 years isn't that much time when it comes to urban context and architecture).

The Gas Company Tower is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 748ft (228m) with 52 floors above ground, while the U.S. Bancorp Tower reaches 535ft (163m) with 42 floors above ground.

Gas Company Tower also offers more total built-up area, a total fo 1,781,748 sqf (165,530m²), which is about 1,041,752 sqf (96,782m²) more than what the U.S. Bancorp Tower offers.

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.

The U.S. Bancorp Tower was designed in the Modern style, while the Gas Company Tower reflects the principles of Postmodernism.

Both towers were built when their respective styles were already past their prime. This makes them feel more like late continuations rather than groundbreaking statements, showing how architectural traditions can linger even as tastes shift.

Both the U.S. Bancorp Tower and the Gas Company Tower were designed to serve as commercial towers, and that has remained their main use since their completion, serving similar roles in the urban fabric.

The U.S. Bancorp Tower also provides 1005 parking spaces.

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 U.S. Bancorp Tower uses a Modular facade, while the Gas Company Tower uses a Curtain Wall facade.

A Modular facade like the one seen in the U.S. Bancorp Tower employs prefabricated panels, often mixing solid surfaces with smaller windows, while a curtain-wall facade like the one seen in the Gas Company Tower uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure.