U.S. Bank Center vs 1201 Third Avenue Tower

Comparing the U.S. Bank Center and the 1201 Third Avenue Tower is interesting because they both stand in Seattle, WA, and were completed just one year apart, 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 1201 Third Avenue Tower is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 771ft (235m) with 55 floors above ground, while the U.S. Bank Center reaches 581ft (177m) with 44 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 U.S. Bank Center and the 1201 Third Avenue Tower 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 Callison Architecture and Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates 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 U.S. Bank Center and the 1201 Third Avenue 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.

Both towers provide significant parking capacity, with U.S. Bank Center offering 989 spaces and the 1201 Third Avenue Tower offering 810.

Both the U.S. Bank Center and the 1201 Third Avenue Tower rely on a Frame structural 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.

They also employ the same type of facade, 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.