modernizing modernism: challenges with preserving post-war buildings national historic tax credit...
TRANSCRIPT
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Modernizing Modernism: Challenges with Preserving Post-War Buildings
National Historic Tax Credit ConferenceChicago, Illinois
September 25, 2008
The Inland Steel Building30 West Monroe Street, Chicago, Illinois
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• Completed in 1958 as corporate headquarters for the Inland Steel Company.
• Designed by Bruce Graham and Walter Netsch of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
• Unique design with external columns and separate service tower allowed completely unobstructed floor plates.
Inland Steel Building
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Historic and Architectural Significance
• First modern glass skyscraper constructed in Chicago Loop.
• First Chicago skyscraper designed by SOM.
• First fully air-conditioned office building in Chicago.
• First use of insulated glass units in a Chicago skyscraper.
• Designated a Chicago Landmark in 1998.
• Listing on the National Register of Historic Places in process.
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The Project
• The Inland Steel Building is being rehabilitated and repositioned as an office building to compete in the 2008 marketplace.
• Project seeks 20% federal historic rehabilitation tax credits, thereby requiring compliance with Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.
• As a Chicago Landmark, changes to exterior and lobby are subject to review and approval by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks.
• A challenge of rehabilitating the Inland Steel Building for the current market is to preserve significant modern interior features while accommodating the needs of a variety of tenants.
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The Challenge: Preserve Modern Interior
• Entry lobby and first floor retail space.
• Unique lighting pattern on second floor.
• Clear span office floors.
• Modular partition wall system.
Significant Interior Features
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Entry Lobby and First Floor Retail Space
• Retain Richard Lippold sculpture “Radiant One” in lobby.
• Restore original lighting system.
• Reveal textured glass and marble features.
• Restore elevator lobby ceiling.
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Entrance lobby with sculpture, looking east towards elevator lobby, circa 1958.
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Current condition of ground floor elevator lobby, showing non-original lighting and Bubinga paneling.
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Non-original Bubinga paneling in entrance lobby.
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Second Floor Lighting Pattern
• Second floor ceiling originally featured grid of square light boxes that extended through the wall plane to the exterior soffits.
• Light boxes were removed from interior.
• Rehabilitation proposes to restore original lighting configuration.
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1957 SOM Drawing of Second Floor Lighting Configuration.
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Current condition of second floor ceiling, showing non-original interior lighting and original exterior lighting.
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Clear Span Office Floors
• Separate service tower allowed office spaces with no interior obstructions.
• Remodeling by individual tenants has obscured original open floor plans on most floors.
• Rehabilitation proposes to remove non-original partitions and reveal clear span office spaces.
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View of typical office floor, circa. 1957.
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Examples of later tenant remodeling.
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Proposed office interior.
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Modular Wall Partition System• Interior office spaces defined
by modular system of wall partition panels manufactured by E. F. Hauserman Company.
• Panels designed to snap into Celotex ceiling system for easy office reconfiguration.
• Rehabilitation proposes to retain Hauserman panels on some floors and introduce new modular system.
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Offices with Hauserman panels, circa 1958.
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Surviving Hauserman panels.
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Hauserman textured glass panels with clear glass transoms.
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Proposed new modular partition system.
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Summary
• The Inland Steel Building is one of the defining commercial high-rises of the Post-War era of modern architecture and a beloved Chicago Landmark.
• A challenge of rehabilitating the Inland Steel Building for the 2008 market is to preserve significant modern interior features while accommodating the needs of a variety of tenants.
• The project will retain the Richard Lippold sculpture in the lobby, restore the original system of light panels on the first floor, and reveal obscured marble and textured glass features.
• The distinctive lighting configuration on the second floor will be restored.
• Inappropriate partition walls will be removed from office floors to reveal original clear span spaces.
• Hauserman wall panels will be retained on some floors, and a new modular partition system will be installed on remaining office floors.
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Allen F. JohnsonDirector, Midwest Office
MacRostie Historic Advisors LLC
53 West Jackson Boulevard, Suite 1357 Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 786-1700; [email protected] macrostiehistoric.com