211 West Fort Street vs Professional Plaza Tower

Comparing the 211 West Fort Street and the Professional Plaza Tower is interesting because they both stand in Detroit, MI, and were completed within 3 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 211 West Fort Street is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 367ft (112m) with 27 floors above ground, while the Professional Plaza Tower reaches 154ft (47m) with 12 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 211 West Fort Street and the Professional Plaza Tower were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the International Style style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So both Harley, Ellington, Cowin & Stirton and Crane & Gorwic followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

The 211 West Fort Street is primarily commercial, while the Professional Plaza Tower is primarily residential.

Originally, the Professional Plaza Tower was designed for medical, but over time it was converted to residential. The 211 West Fort Street by contrast has maintained its original role.

The Professional Plaza Tower offers 72 residential units.

These two towers illustrate the many possible ways to combine structure and enclosure in skyscraper design.