Maccabees Building vs David Stott Building

Comparing the Maccabees Building and the David Stott 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 David Stott Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 436ft (133m) with 38 floors above ground, while the Maccabees Building reaches 197ft (60m) with 15 floors above ground.

Despite being taller and having more floors, David Stott Building has less total built-up area than Maccabees Building.

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 Maccabees Building and the David Stott 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 Albert Kahn and Donaldson and Meier followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

The Maccabees Building is primarily commercial, while the David Stott Building is primarily residential.

Originally, the David Stott Building was designed for commercial, but over time it was converted to residential. The Maccabees Building by contrast has maintained its original role.

The David Stott Building offers 107 residential units.

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