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Read an architectural office-building profile in two passes: first record what the publisher says the project is and what its figures mean; then test how the stated design ideas appear in the narrative, images and drawings. Keep labels, units and project phases intact. A firm’s project page is a curated account, not a universal form, and its measurements or dates may need checking against underlying records.
Start by identifying the project
Note the project name, any former name, client, location and project type before comparing details. Names can change, and a profile may cover a building alongside later renovation work. SOM, for example, identifies Willis Tower as formerly Sears Tower and names its client and Chicago location on its Willis Tower project page.
Record the profile’s own wording rather than replacing it with a presumed standard. Firms do not all publish the same fields; a page may include dates, area, height, collaborators, images, drawings and a design narrative, while another omits some of these.
Read the fact block without mixing measurements
Copy each figure with its exact label and unit. Site area describes the parcel; building gross area, gross floor area and rentable area are distinct reported quantities. Their definitions and scope can vary, and the sources here do not establish one cross-publisher measurement rule. Before comparing figures, check what is being measured, whether it covers one building or a larger development, and whether the units and definitions match.
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| Profile figure | What to record | Reading caution |
|---|---|---|
| Site area | Reported parcel or site area and unit | Do not treat it as floor area. |
| Gross building area or gross floor area | Exact term, value, unit and stated scope | Do not assume either term has an identical definition across publishers. |
| Rentable area | Value and unit, exactly as published | It is not interchangeable with gross area. |
| Height and stories | Value, unit and story count | These describe different aspects of scale; retain the stated units. |
For example, SOM lists Willis Tower at 3 acres of site area, 1,450 feet high and 110 stories, with 4,455,844 square feet of building gross area and 3,810,000 square feet of rentable area. These are figures on the firm’s project page, not universal benchmarks. The difference between gross and rentable figures is not a conversion factor readers can apply to other buildings.
Keep project dates and phases separate
A profile may distinguish design completion, construction completion and later restoration or renovation. Record each date against the phase it names; do not assume a renovation date describes the original building.
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Lever House illustrates why. SOM lists the original completion as 1952 and a restoration/renovation completion in 2023. Its account says the later work included updates to the plaza and outdoor space, a restored lobby and new mechanical systems. Those are elements of the later phase, not original 1952 features, according to the firm’s Lever House project page.
Also preserve contradictions instead of silently resolving them. SOM’s Willis Tower fact block gives a 1974 completion year, while the page narrative says it was completed in 1973. Its fact block separately lists a 1971 design-finish year. The profile does not settle which completion date is correct; if precision matters, check an authoritative building record and identify the source for the date you use.
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Connect the design story to the building
Look for a chain of reasoning: what the client or site required, what spatial or structural response followed, and where that response appears in the form or drawings. A profile is more useful when it explains those links than when it merely describes appearance.
Program and structure: Willis Tower
SOM says Sears wanted large office floors for its own operations as well as smaller floors for other tenants. The firm connects that need to the tower’s setbacks and describes nine bundled structural tubes that step back at different heights. Read together, these details explain both the tiered outline and the relationship between floor-plate needs and structural strategy.
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Building and public realm: Lever House
SOM describes Lever House as a two-story horizontal base with a vertical slab set perpendicular to Park Avenue and a large public plaza. The firm’s account frames the arrangement as a changed relationship between office space and the public realm. When reading such claims, identify the design move first, then look for evidence of it in the site plan, massing and circulation.
Structure and interior space: Exchange House
SOM’s indexed description of Broadgate – Exchange House identifies four parallel structural arches and column-free interior spaces. This suggests a useful question for other profiles: does the account explain how a structural system affects the space people use? The direct project page was unavailable for verification of the additional figures reported for this project, so treat those numbers as requiring independent confirmation before relying on them.
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Read drawings according to their purpose
Different drawings answer different questions. A site plan shows a building in relation to its parcel and surroundings; a floor plan shows horizontal layout; an elevation shows an exterior face; a section cuts through levels and volumes. A municipal permit plan set illustrates one possible collection—project data, site plan, floor plans, exterior elevations and building sections—with stated dimensions and scale. It is an example of a submitted set, not a required sequence for every project.
- Check the sheet title: establish whether the drawing is a site plan, floor plan, elevation or section.
- Check orientation: use the north arrow or other orientation information before inferring direction or adjacency.
- Check dimensions and scale: rely on stated dimensions where available. A scale ruler can help with a printed drawing only if it has been reproduced at the stated scale.
- Check the phase: determine whether the drawing represents existing conditions or proposed work.
- Check sheet context: read notes and related sheets before treating a cropped image as a complete account.
Images can support an interpretation, but they do not automatically prove every claim in the accompanying prose. Separate what the page states, what a drawing documents and what you infer from looking at it.
Compare projects on matching terms
When two profiles use different fields or definitions, comparison can create false precision. Match the category first, and leave figures incomparable when the labels, units, scope or measurement basis do not align.
- Purpose and client: what activities or needs the project was commissioned to support.
- Location and site: parcel, surrounding context, access and public space.
- Program and organization: floor-plate needs, circulation and public or private areas.
- Form and structure: how massing, frame, core or spans relate to stated goals.
- Scale: compare area, height or stories only when labels, units, scope and definitions align.
- Project phase: distinguish new construction from renovation, restoration or adaptive reuse, and compare dates and scope separately.
- Evidence: separate project data, the firm’s interpretation and your own visual reading.
Know what a project profile can establish
A firm’s page is primary evidence for what the firm says about its project, but it does not independently verify every interpretation or performance claim. A permit plan set documents a particular submission; it is not a general architecture standard. When a date, measurement, structural claim, code decision or performance claim is consequential, consult the underlying drawing, an official building record, or the responsible engineer or agency, and report any discrepancy.
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