This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
This Website Uses Cookies
By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Learn More
This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
Architectural Record logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Subscribe
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Architectural Record logo
  • NEWS
    • Latest News
    • Interviews
    • Reviews
    • Commentary
    • Editorials
  • PROJECTS
    • Building Types
    • Interior Design
    • Museums & Arts Centers
    • Adaptive Reuse
    • Colleges & Universities
    • Lighting
    • Snapshot
  • HOUSES
    • Record Houses
    • House of the Month
    • Featured Houses
    • Kitchen and Bath
  • PRODUCTS
    • Material World
    • Categories
    • Award Winners
    • Case Studies
    • Partners in Design
    • Trends & Insights
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Best Architecture Schools
    • Top 300 Firms
    • Theme Issues
    • Record Houses
    • Record Products
    • Good Design Is Good Business
    • Design Vanguard
    • Historical Archive
    • Cocktail Napkin Sketch
    • Videos
  • CALL FOR ENTRIES
    • Record Houses
    • Guess the Architect Contest
    • Submit Your Work
  • CONTINUING ED
    • Architectural Technology
    • Architect Continuing Education
    • Continuing Education Center
    • Digital Academies
  • EVENTS
    • Record on the Road
    • Innovation Conference
    • Women In Architecture
    • Webinars
    • Advertising Excellence Awards
  • MORE
    • Subscribe
    • Customer Service
    • Digital Edition
    • eNewsletter
    • Interactive Spotlight
    • Store
    • Custom Content Marketing
    • Research
    • Sponsor Insights
    • eBooks
  • CONTACT
    • Advertise
Home » Chicago Athletic Association Hotel
Adaptive Reuse ProjectsBuildings by TypeProjectsHospitality Projects

Chicago Athletic Association Hotel

Chicago

Chicago Athletic Association Hotel

The restored rosy brick and delicate screen of limestone columns and pointed arches signal the main entrance to a hotel bearing Henry Ives Cobb’s 1893 Chicago Athletic Association’s name.

Photo © Alan Shortall

Chicago Athletic Association Hotel

The Venetian Gothic style extends through the main lobby on the second floor.

Photo © Alan Shortall

Chicago Athletic Association Hotel

The reception desk is one of several new millwork pieces designed to evoke the layered, lacquered, and leather-embellished vintage athletic equipment. The mural over the desk depicts the elevated train tracks that encircle Chicago’s Loop.

Photo © Alan Shortall

Chicago Athletic Association Hotel

The original stair of marble, cast bronze, and gilded cast iron has been impeccably restored.

Photo © Brad Pogatetz

Chicago Athletic Association Hotel

The newly added rootop bar and restaurant features a steel and glass pavilion that draws inspiration from 19th-century train sheds.

Photo © Brad Pogatetz

Chicago Athletic Association Hotel

The guest rooms have a masculine look that recalls the hotel’s origins as a club for men including a leather bench resembling a gymnasts’ pommel horse.

Photo © Alan Shortall

Chicago Athletic Association Hotel

The restored original millwork in the Lobby Lounge includes fligree screens that separate the central space from more intimate alcoves.

Photo © Alan Shortall

Cherry Circle Room

Restored by Land and Sea Dept.

Photo © Clayton Hauck

Cherry Circle Room

Restored by Land and Sea Dept.

Photo © Clayton Hauck

Cherry Circle Room

Restored by Land and Sea Dept.

Photo © Clayton Hauck

Cherry Circle Room

Restored by Land and Sea Dept.

Photo © Clayton Hauck

Chicago Athletic Association

Image courtesy Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, Roman and Williams Buildings and Interiors

Chicago Athletic Association

Image courtesy Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, Roman and Williams Buildings and Interiors

Chicago Athletic Association

Image courtesy Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, Roman and Williams Buildings and Interiors

Chicago Athletic Association

Image courtesy Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, Roman and Williams Buildings and Interiors

Chicago Athletic Association Hotel
Chicago Athletic Association Hotel
Chicago Athletic Association Hotel
Chicago Athletic Association Hotel
Chicago Athletic Association Hotel
Chicago Athletic Association Hotel
Chicago Athletic Association Hotel
Cherry Circle Room
Cherry Circle Room
Cherry Circle Room
Cherry Circle Room
Chicago Athletic Association
Chicago Athletic Association
Chicago Athletic Association
Chicago Athletic Association
February 1, 2016
James Gauer
KEYWORDS adaptive reuse architecture / Chicago / hotels / renovation / restoration
Reprints
No Comments

Architects & Firms

Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture
Roman and Williams Buildings and Interiors
 

People and Products

On Chicago’s stately Michigan Avenue, steps from the Art Institute, in a classically ordered ground-floor lobby with elaborate mosaic floors, Corinthian columns, and two grand marble stairs, office workers in “business casual” line up for burgers at Shake Shack. On the grand piano nobile above, amid the plutocratic splendor of a plushly furnished lounge with intricate paneling, monumental fireplaces, and leaded-glass windows overlooking Millennium Park, twentysomethings in T-shirts and jeans tap away at laptops and smartphones. In an adjacent game room, they down local craft beers while playing pool and bocce. This is not your grandfather’s Chicago Athletic Association (CAA), where Cyrus McCormick and Marshall Field used to exercise, dine, and dance. No, it’s the new CAA Hotel, for which the home of an august but defunct institution has been rescued, repurposed, and rebranded for a more diverse demographic.

A casual knowledge of Chicago’s architectural history might suggest that, as the 20th century approached, new buildings fell neatly into two stylistic camps: the muscular structural expressionism of the Chicago School and the Beaux Arts classicism of the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. Among the notable exceptions were buildings in fanciful period styles such as the 11-story CAA, Henry Ives Cobb’s sumptuous Venetian Gothic palazzo. Completed the same year as the exposition, its facade of rosy brick with a delicate screen of creamy limestone columns and pointed arches recalls the Doge’s Palace. In 1906, Schmidt, Garden & Martin added a 12th-story annex for a second ballroom and women’s dining; in 1926 the firm extended the height to 19 stories to add more guest rooms.

The CAA served the city’s elite for over a century, but in 2007, dwindling membership forced it to close. Developers proposed to save the front third of the building but destroy the annexes; the recession mercifully killed this scheme. In 2012, John Pritzker, son of Hyatt Hotels founder Jay Pritzker, spearheaded a purchase by AJ Capital Partners, Agman Partners, and Geolo Capital for $13 million. The goal was to reinvent the venerable landmarked L-shaped structure as a 241-room luxury hotel under the Commune Hotels + Resorts brand, of which Pritzker is chairman.

In renovating the club as a hotel, Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture (HPA) and New York–based designers Roman and Williams (RW) eschewed the kind of makeover that strives to restore to a fixed date, with any new elements suppressed in a simulacrum of the original. Neither did they want to create modernist interventions in which original elements are preserved as artifacts and new elements assert themselves in a contemporary style. For the CAA, the team carefully developed a nuanced approach: they opted for discreet insertions that tie together many previous alterations and additions, stressing evolution over time.

“This is an approach to renovating and reinvigorating historic buildings that we have developed and refined over the years,” explains RW principal Stephen Alesch. “The project was not envisioned as a museum restoration,” seconds HPA principal Paul Alessandro, who found the building to be “an embarrassment of riches,” adding, “It was clear from the outset that we could never do something better than the original, and inserting something aggressively modern felt like cheating. We had to be very careful.”

And careful they were. The exhaustive rehabilitation included the restoration of 18,000 square feet of ornamental plaster, 26,500 square feet of marble and mosaic flooring, 32,000 square feet of paneling and bas-reliefs, and 82 art glass windows, along with the recreation of 151 plaster stalactites in the ceiling of the White City Ballroom on the eighth floor of the original building. The Michigan Avenue entrance canopy is a reproduction based on original 1890 drawings.

A tour of the second (main) floor offers a timeline of the club’s history. Teams of craftsmen restored the 1893 grandeur of the Lobby Lounge by removing, refinishing, and reinstalling every piece of millwork and recreating original light fixtures from old photos. The reception desk is one of several new pieces designed to evoke the layered, lacquered, and leather-embellished construction of vintage athletic equipment. The adjacent Game Room is a lively hybrid of old and new, in which the original 1893 Billiard Room has been left more or less intact, but its walls have been fitted with sport-themed cartoon sketches on chalkboard, salvaged wood gymnasium flooring, and a back bar decorated with a surprisingly elegant pool cue rack. The eclectic space provides an artful transition to the refurbished midcentury swank of the 1954 Cherry Circle Room, sheathed in flush oak paneling and tufted leather banquettes.

Guest rooms recall the club’s sporting past with masculine-looking armoires, desks, and bars derived from wooden stretching racks and leather benches that resemble gymnasts’ pommel horses. Vintage oriental rugs, a modern twist on the brass bed, and national-parks blankets add a layer of richness and comfort. Bathrooms are crisp and classic, combining white porcelain tile and fixtures with Carrara marble vanities and nickel fittings.

HPA added two floors to the 1893 Cobb design, including a 12th floor for mechanical space and a 6,000-square-foot rooftop aerie for drinking and dining. Crowned by a vaulted skylight, it required additional structural muscle: new cantilevered trusses rest on original columns that were reinforced throughout the building and then underpinned at their foundations. The design team drew inspiration for the new steel and glass pavilion from the late 19th-century train sheds that once occupied the ravine across Michigan Avenue, now covered by Millennium Park. The result is nonetheless a thoroughly modern, light, and airy bar and restaurant, named Cindy’s, after Mr. Pritzker’s mother. It opens to a terrace with postcard views that include Frank Gehry’s music pavilion, named after Cindy’s husband, Jay. In Cindy’s portrait, which overlooks a private dining room, she appears to be smiling—and with good reason.


People

Architect Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture
232 N. Carpenter Street, Chicago, IL 60607
T: 312.226.4488 | F: 312.226.4499

Personnel in architect's firm who should receive special credit Jim Plunkard, AIA – Partner | Project Role: Managing Partner
Paul Alessandro, RA, LEED AP BD+C – Partner & Director of Preservation | Project Role: Partner In Charge
Jason Walejeski, RA, LEED AP BD+C – Director of Technical Services | Project Role: Project Manager
Krista Weir, RA – Project Architect | Project Role: Project Architect
Michael Hines, AIA, LEED AP BD+C – Project Architect | Project Role: Project Architect

Interior designer Roman and Williams Buildings and Interiors
324 Lafayette Street 6th Floor, New York, NY 10012
Contact: Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch
T: 212.625.3808 | E: robin@romanandwilliams.com; stephen@romanandwilliams.com

Engineers MEP/FP Engineer
KJWW Engineering Consultants
231 S. LaSalle Street, Suite 600, Chicago, IL 60604
Contact: John Panek, Project Executive
T: 312.931.3731 | E: panekjr@kjww.com

Structural Engineer
Forefront Structural Engineers
228 S. Wabash Ave Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60604
Contact: Josh Dortzbach, Principal
T: 312.376.1140 | E: jdortzbach@forefrontstructural.com

Exterior Restoration and Structural Façade Engineer
Wiss Janney Elstner Associates
10 South LaSalle Street, Suite 2600, Chicago, IL 60603
Contact: Bryan Rouse, Associate Principal
T: 312.372.0555 | E: brouse@wje.com

Consultants Lighting:
Schuler Shook
750 N. Orleans, Suite 400, Chicago, IL 60654
Contact:
T: 312.944.8230

Acoustical:
KJWW Engineering Consultants
231 S. LaSalle Street, Suite 600, Chicago, IL 60604
Contact: John Panek, Project Executive
T: 312.931.3731 | E: panekjr@kjww.com

Project Manager:
Jones Lang LaSalle
200 E. Randolph St., Suite 4700, Chicago, IL 60601
Contact: Lori Horvath, SVP
T: 312.228.2544 | E: lori.horvath@am.jll.com

Historic Advisor:
MacRostie Historic Advisors LLCD
53 W. Jackson Blvd, Suite 1323, Chicago IL 60604
Contact: Allen Johnson, Director Midwest Office
T: 312.786.1700 x7016 | E: ajohnson@mac-ha.com

Other:
Next Step Design (Kitchen Design)
913 West Street, Annapolis, MD 21401
T: 410.263.1200
Area of consultation: Kitchen design

Art Advisory Service (Art Consultant and Procurement)
PO Box 3850, Vail, CO 81658
T: 970.949.9096
Area of consultation: Art sourcing and coordination

Neil Locke & Associates (Procurement)
550 E. Devon Ave, Suite 130, Itasca, IL 60143
T: 630.285.9085
Area of consultation: Sourcing

General contractor Bulley & Andrews, LLC
1755 W. Armitage Avenue, Chicago IL 60622
Contact: Mike Lemmons
T: 773.235.2433

Masonry Restoration Bulley & Andrews Masonry Restoration, LLC
1755 W. Armitage Avenue, Chicago IL 60622
T: 773.235.2433

Photographer Brad Pogatetz Photography
Contact Name: Brad Pogatetz
Batavia, IL 60510
T: 847.910.7330 | E: brad@bradpogatetz.com
www.bradpogatetz.com

CAD system, project management, or other software used AutoCAD Revit Design Suite 

Client AJ Capital Partners, Agman Partners, Geolo

Capital partnership

Size 249,000 square feet

Cost withheld

Completion date May 2015

 

Products

Structural system Clay Tile Protected Steel Frame with Exterior Masonry Bearing Walls

Exterior cladding Metal Panels: Kingspan USA
726 Summerhill Drive Deland, FL 32724
1-877-638-3266

Entrance Canopy (custom): Louis Hoffman Co.
N93 W16112 Megal Drive, Menomonee Falls, WI 53051
T: 262.251.7060 | F: 262.251.7123

Roofing LiveRoof
T: 616.935.1984 (rep’s direct line)
Area of consultation: Green roof trays

Windows Wood frame: Jensen Window Corporation
T: 708.599.5990
Area of work: Window subcontractor: Restoration & replication of historic wood windows at Michigan Ave. facade

Metal frame: Graham Architectural Products Corp.
Area of work: New historic replacement windows at hotel rooms

Glazing Glass: Opal Glass Studios
319 Albany, Chicago, IL 60612
Contact: Sharon Bladholm
T: 773.638.3500
Area of work: Restoration of the historic stained glass portions of windows, doors and transoms

Skylights: Super Sky Products Enterprises, LCC
T: 262.242.2000
Area of work: New skylights at 13th floor addition (Cindy’s Restaurant)

Glass handrail on rooftop, vertical walls of insulating glass; shower doors in guestrooms: Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope
Area of work: OBE Wausau did vertical walls of IG for rooftop restaurant (Cindy’s), and the SGP handrail on the rooftop. OBE ALB did all heavy shower doors in the hotel.

Hardware Saflok
Area of consultation: guestroom entrance hardware

Interior finishes Paints and stains: Sherwin Williams

Paneling:
Glenn Rieder
3420 West Capitol Drive, Milwaukee, WI 53216
T: 414.449.2888
Area of work: Typical corridors, 8th floor prefunction spaces and bathrooms

Bernhard Woodwork Ltd.
3670 Woodhead Dr., Northbrook, IL 60066
T: 847.291.1040
Area of work: Entrance vestibules, entrance doors, historic replica paneling for the 3rd floor suites & the 4th floor gym, rework of existing paneling throughout the project, restoration of existing doors

Bourbon Marble, Inc.
T: 847.229.9694
Area of work: Restoration of uncovered historic marble paneling and flooring throughout (8th floor ballroom in particular), public-space stone

RG Construction Services, Inc.
936 North Larch Ave, Elmhurst, IL 60126
T: 630.592.3034
Area of work: Restoration/replication plasterwork (8th floor ballroom ceiling, 1st floor), interior drywall and framing work throughout the property

Furnishings Office furniture:
Thomas Interior Systems
180 N Wacker Drive, Suite 450, Chicago, IL 60606
Contact: Amanda Beelman
T  312.332.6362
Area of work: Sourcing furniture in the ballrooms (table and chairs), conference rooms

Other furniture (use additional sheet if necessary):
555 International
T: 773.869.0555
Area of work: bars, check-in desk at 2nd floor lobby, welcome desk at 1st floor lobby, glass partitions at 13th floor, Shake Shack restaurant build out

Decca Hospitality
T: 404.262.4330
Area of work: custom guestroom and public space furniture

Lighting Archistoric Products
T: 312.829.6290
Area of work: restoration of existing & salvaged fixtures; new replica light fixtures in Madison Ballroom, second floor lobby and Michigan ballroom

Siena Design Inc
119 West 72nd St, New York, NY 10023
T: 212. 595.0996
Area of consultation: Interior furnishings, custom light fixtures

Custom Plumbing Fixtures
Symmons
T: 312. 257.4324
Area of consultation: custom fittings/faucets throughout

 

AR Subscribe

Recent Articles by James Gauer

Chicago’s Challenging 2019 Biennial Grapples with Architecture and Activism

Sheila and Eric Samson Pavilion at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic by Foster + Partners

Expensify Office by ZGF

James Gauer, an architect and author based in Victoria, B.C.; Chicago; and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, contributes regularly to RECORD.

Related Articles

Ace Hotel by GREC Architects and COMMUNE Design

Rationalism Revisited: Alterations to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, by Johnston Marklee

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

More Videos

AR Tremco Webinar


 


 

Events

December 12, 2019

Improving Building Delivery with BIM

Credits: 1 AIA LU/Elective; 1 AIBD P-CE; 0.1 IACET CEU
May qualify for learning hours through most Canadian architectural associations

BIM brings countless advantages to the construction team, but the biggest benefit lies with the owner. For architects continuing to develop and enhance delivery methods, BIM is the solution. In this webinar with Rob Glisson, AIA, principal at ROJO Architecture, see how BIM can help you reduce risk, accelerate schedules, establish more accurate budgets, decrease costs, and better serve your clients.

December 17, 2019

Minimizing Risk in Blindside Waterproofing Applications

Credits: 1 AIA LU/Elective; 1 AIBD P-CE; 0.1 IACET CEU

May qualify for learning hours through most Canadian architectural associations

This course will identify blindside waterproofing product technologies, their differences, the criteria for product performance, and how to design a waterproofing system accordingly. Best practices for mitigating application risks and managing critical areas prone to moisture infiltration will be reviewed, including the sequence of installation and for detailing failure points.

View All Submit An Event

Products

ENR Square Foot Costbook 2020

ENR Square Foot Costbook 2020

See More Products

Tweets by @ArchRecord

Architectural Record

AR December 2019 Cover

2019 December

In the December 2019 issue, Architectural Record reveals the winners of the annual Record Products contest.

View More Subscribe
  • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Survey And Sample
    • Editorial Calendar
  • Call for Entries
  • Subscribe
    • Subscribe
    • Renew
    • Create Account
    • Change Address
    • Pay My Bill
    • Free eNewsletters
    • Customer Care
  • Advertise
    • Architectural Record
    • Advertising Awards
  • Industry Jobs

Copyright ©2019. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing