Alfred I. DuPont Building vs Delano South Beach Hotel

Comparing the Alfred I. DuPont Building and the Delano South Beach Hotel is interesting because they both rise in Miami, FL, yet they were conceived by two different design teams, Marsh and Saxelbye and Robert Swartburg, and were completed at different points in time. They were finished more than 8 years apart.

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

Let's take a closer look!

These two towers present an interesting contrast in their proportions. The Delano South Beach Hotel rises higher at 190ft (58m), while the Alfred I. DuPont Building reaches 0ft (m). However, the Alfred I. DuPont Building accommodates more floors with 17 levels above ground, compared to 15 floors in the Delano South Beach Hotel.

This suggests different approaches to interior space design. The Delano South Beach Hotel has an average floor-to-floor height of approximately 3.9m, while the Alfred I. DuPont Building has more compact floors averaging around 0m each. The taller building's more generous floor heights might indicate grander interior spaces, higher ceilings, or different programmatic requirements.

These different proportions likely reflect the specific needs each building was designed to serve, whether driven by zoning regulations, client requirements, or the intended use of the spaces within. The contrast shows how architects can achieve different spatial experiences even when working with similar overall building scales.

Both the Alfred I. DuPont Building and the Delano South Beach Hotel were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Art Deco style.

Both buildings were completed when the Art Deco style was already past its peak. This makes them feel like late echoes of the movement, more reflective of continuity or nostalgia than of cutting-edge design at the time.

The Alfred I. DuPont Building is primarily commercial, while the Delano South Beach Hotel is primarily hotel.

Originally, the Delano South Beach Hotel was designed for residential, but over time it was converted to hotel. The Alfred I. DuPont Building by contrast has maintained its original role.

The Delano South Beach Hotel incorporates a 5-star hotel with 194 rooms. More information is available at the official website.

The Delano South Beach Hotel also provides 700 parking spaces.

The two towers rely on different structural systems, reflecting distinct engineering strategies.

The Alfred I. DuPont Building uses a Frame structural system, which relies on a regular grid of columns and beams to sustain its weight, while the Delano South Beach Hotel uses a Bearing Walls system, that depends on thick walls to carry loads down to the foundations.

Yet, when it comes to their facade, they both employed the same solution, a Masonry facade.

A masonry facade gives the building a heavier, more traditional appearance. It often conceals a frame structure behind it, creating the look of solid walls without carrying the main loads.