Heritage at Millennium Park vs Trump International Hotel and Tower

Comparing the Heritage at Millennium Park and the Trump International Hotel and Tower is interesting because they both stand in Chicago, IL, and were completed within 4 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 Trump International Hotel and Tower is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 1181ft (360m) with 92 floors above ground, while the Heritage at Millennium Park reaches 631ft (192.4m) with 57 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 Heritage at Millennium Park and the Trump International Hotel and Tower 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 Solomon Cordwell Buenz and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

Both towers follow a mixed-use program. The Heritage at Millennium Park combines residential and retail, while the Trump International Hotel and Tower integrates hotel, residential and commercial. Notably, both include residential as part of their program.

The Trump International Hotel and Tower incorporates a 5-star hotel with 339 rooms. More information is available at the official website.

In terms of capacity, the Heritage at Millennium Park offers 359 apartments, while the Trump International Hotel and Tower provides 486 units.

The Trump International Hotel and Tower also provides 960 parking spaces.

Both towers share the same structural solution, a Frame 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.

However, when it comes to the facade, both buildings use different approaches. The Heritage at Millennium Park uses a Modular facade, while the Trump International Hotel and Tower uses a Curtain Wall facade.

A Modular facade like the one seen in the Heritage at Millennium Park employs prefabricated panels, often mixing solid surfaces with smaller windows, while a curtain-wall facade like the one seen in the Trump International Hotel and Tower uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure.