Figueroa at Wilshire Building vs Westin Bonaventure Hotel

Comparing the Figueroa at Wilshire Building and the Westin Bonaventure Hotel is interesting because they both rise in Los Angeles, CA, yet they were conceived by two different design teams, Albert C. Martin & Associates and John C. Portman Jr., and were completed at different points in time. They were finished more than a decade apart.

This contrast within the same city allows us to see how different creative minds interpreted the evolving needs of Los Angeles across time.

Let's take a closer look!

The Figueroa at Wilshire Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 719ft (219m) with 52 floors above ground, while the Westin Bonaventure Hotel reaches 387ft (118m) with 33 floors above ground.

Despite being taller and having more floors, Figueroa at Wilshire Building has less total built-up area than Westin Bonaventure Hotel.

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 Figueroa at Wilshire Building and the Westin Bonaventure Hotel 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 Albert C. Martin & Associates and John C. Portman Jr. followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

The Figueroa at Wilshire Building is primarily commercial, while the Westin Bonaventure Hotel is primarily hotel.

The Westin Bonaventure Hotel incorporates a 4-star hotel with 1354 rooms. More information is available at the official website.

Both the Figueroa at Wilshire Building and the Westin Bonaventure Hotel 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.