Wolf Point West Tower vs BMO Tower

Comparing the Wolf Point West Tower and the BMO Tower is interesting because they both stand in Chicago, IL, and were completed within 5 years of each other, 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 BMO Tower is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 728ft (222m) with 51 floors above ground, while the Wolf Point West Tower reaches 499ft (152m) with 48 floors above ground.

BMO Tower also offers more total built-up area, a total fo 1,739,995 sqf (161,651m²), which is about 1,175,891 sqf (109,244m²) more than what the Wolf Point West 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.

Both the Wolf Point West Tower and the BMO Tower were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Contemporary style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So both bKL Architecture and Goettsch Partners followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

The Wolf Point West Tower is primarily residential, while the BMO Tower is primarily commercial.

The Wolf Point West Tower offers 509 residential units.

Both towers provide significant parking capacity, with Wolf Point West Tower offering 1350 spaces and the BMO Tower offering 324.

Both the Wolf Point West Tower and the BMO 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.