Guardian Building vs The Kean Building

Comparing the Guardian Building and the The Kean Building is interesting because they both stand in Detroit, MI, and were completed within 2 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 Guardian Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 495ft (151m) with 36 floors above ground, while the The Kean Building reaches 180ft (55m) with 16 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 Guardian Building and the The Kean Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Art Deco style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So both Smith, Hinchman & Grylls and Charles Noble followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

The Guardian Building is primarily commercial, while the The Kean Building is primarily residential.

The The Kean Building offers 49 residential units.

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