Millennium Tower vs One Dalton Building

Comparing the Millennium Tower and the One Dalton Building is interesting because they both stand in Boston, MA, 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 One Dalton Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 748ft (228m) with 61 floors above ground, while the Millennium Tower reaches 686ft (209m) with 60 floors above ground.

Despite being taller and having more floors, One Dalton Building has less total built-up area than Millennium Tower.

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 Millennium Tower and the One Dalton Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Contemporary style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So both Handel Architects and Pei Cobb Freed & Partners followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

The One Dalton Building follows a mixed-use model, combining residential and hotel. In contrast, the Millennium Tower has remained primarily residential.

The One Dalton Building incorporates a 5-star hotel with 215 rooms. More information is available at the official website.

In terms of capacity, the Millennium Tower offers 442 apartments, while the One Dalton Building provides 160 units.

The Millennium Tower also provides 550 parking spaces.

Both the Millennium Tower and the One Dalton Building rely on a Frame structural system.

A frame structure uses a grid of columns and beams to carry the building's loads. This frees the walls from structural duties, allowing for flexible floor plans and larger windows.

They also employ the same type of facade, a Curtain Wall facade.

A curtain wall is a non-load-bearing facade hung from the structural frame. It is anchored to floor slabs and transfers only its own weight and wind loads, allowing for sleek, glassy exteriors.