W. R. Grace Building vs 7 World Trade Center

Comparing the W. R. Grace Building and the 7 World Trade Center is particularly interesting because they share the same skyline in New York, NY, and were both designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. However, they were completed more than 32 years apart.

This offers a unique perspective on how the architect's style and the city's architecture evolved over time.

The 7 World Trade Center is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 741ft (226m) with 51 floors above ground, while the W. R. Grace Building reaches 630ft (192m) with 50 floors above ground.

7 World Trade Center also offers more total built-up area, a total fo 1,681,117 sqf (156,181m²), which is about 202,587 sqf (18,821m²) more than what the W. R. Grace Building offers.

The 7 World Trade Center also concentrates more floor area on its site, indicating a higher floor area ratio.

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 W. R. Grace Building was designed in the International Style style, while the 7 World Trade Center reflects the principles of Contemporary.

The W. R. Grace Building represents a late expression of the International Style, a style already in decline in 1974 when it was completed. By contrast, the 7 World Trade Center followed the then mainstream Contemporary, embodying the dominant architectural direction of its time.

With 32 years between them, the comparison also reflects how quickly architectural priorities can shift from one dominant language to another.

Both the W. R. Grace Building and the 7 World Trade 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.

The W. R. Grace Building also provides 185 parking spaces.

Both the W. R. Grace Building and the 7 World Trade Center 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.