Delano Hotel

Location Miami Beach, FL, USA | Client Morgan Hotel Group | Architect Philippe Stark | Size 574 hectares | Status Completed 1995 | Tags Hospitality

MSP’s innovative landscape design for the gardens of the Delano Hotel is still fresh and exciting 30 years after the renovations.

The garden is structured by the columns of 30-foot Washingtonia palm trees on a grand lawn carpet. A citrus grove provides shade for guests to relax and look out at the swimming pool, which runs the length of the site down to the beach.

The garden and pool are connected to the upper hotel patio by the clean lines of a staircase with interlaced grass and paved treads. Large clay planters arranged on the steps provide drama and link the building to the garden.

The 194-room Delano South Beach Hotel, in the heart of Miami Beach, was named after US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Located directly on the sea-front, the building is known for its quirky art deco style, and the landscape complements this.

Thanks to its playful chic design it was ranked 39th in a 2007 AIA poll of members’ 150 favourite works of architecture. The hotel has changed hands several times since the 1994 restoration, and is now owned by Eldridge Industries.