Bank of America Tower vs VyStar Tower

Comparing the Bank of America Tower and the VyStar Tower is interesting because they both stand in Jacksonville, FL, 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 Bank of America Tower is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 617ft (188m) with 42 floors above ground, while the VyStar Tower reaches 358ft (109m) with 24 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 Bank of America Tower and the VyStar 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 Murphy/Jahn Architects and KBJ Architects 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 Bank of America Tower and the VyStar 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 Bank of America Tower also provides 650 parking spaces.

The two towers rely on different structural systems, reflecting distinct engineering strategies.

The Bank of America Tower uses a Frame structural system, which relies on a regular grid of columns and beams to sustain its weight, while the VyStar Tower uses a Framed Tube In Tube system, that combines a strong central core with a perimeter tube of columns.

Yet, when it comes to their facade, they both employed the same solution, 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.