Chicago's 342,000-sf Cook County Hospital building, completed in 1914, sat vacant since 2002 and had fallen into a severe state of disrepair. The building was under threat of being demolished before SOM led a design-build collaboration for general contractor Walsh Construction, with Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, and interior designers KOO, to preserve, restore, and adapt the former hospital building to meet the changing needs of the neighborhood.
The reimagined building now includes a new hotel, a food hall, medical offices, and community spaces and is the first phase of a proposed $1 billion redevelopment plan for the area. The building also includes a museum space that will showcase the important role the hospital played for the city and in the field of medicine.
Image © Dave Burk | SOM.
Restoration work focused first on repairing the neoclassical-style exterior by replacing more than 4,500 pieces of terra cotta on the facade. A sliver-thin canopy of steel and glass marks the entrance of the building and replaces a former bulky addition that diminished the integrity of the facade.
Image © Dave Burk | SOM.
Interior restoration included restoring the lobby to its original height of 25 feet. Original red terrazzo flooring and ornate Beaux-Arts molding evokes the building’s original grandeur and contemporary artwork, lighting, and finishes signal a new chapter in the building’s history.
See also: SOM-designed waterfront neighborhood will include 1,045-foot-tall tower
“We didn’t just want to preserve the old Cook County Hospital--we wanted to bring it back to its former glory, from the facade to the original Beaux-Arts masonry detailing and terra cotta ornamentation,” said Brian Lee, SOM Consulting Partner, in a release. “The restored historic volume and finishes in the main lobby bring the original grand entrance back to life, establishing a new entrypoint for the community.”
Before and after; top image © SOM; bottom image © Dave Burk | SOM.
The food hall is located to the left of the lobby. It provides a bright and engaging space with 12 local vendors that are primarily women- or minority-owned businesses. Additional amenity spaces include an expansive bar and lounge space with views through restored wood-framed windows.
The hotel takes advantage of the building’s relatively thin footprint and includes 210 hotel rooms filled with natural light. The rooms include unique layouts with contemporary art and decor. Some of the more unusual spaces within the former hospital, including lofty operating rooms and bands with windows on the eighth floor, were turned into distinctive guest rooms.
Before and after; top image © Walsh Group; bottom image © Dave Burk | SOM.
Related Stories
| Oct 12, 2010
University of Toledo, Memorial Field House
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Silver Award. Memorial Field House, once the lovely Collegiate Gothic (ca. 1933) centerpiece (along with neighboring University Hall) of the University of Toledo campus, took its share of abuse after a new athletic arena made it redundant, in 1976. The ultimate insult occurred when the ROTC used it as a paintball venue.
| Oct 12, 2010
Owen Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Silver Award. Officials at Michigan State University’s East Lansing Campus were concerned that Owen Hall, a mid-20th-century residence facility, was no longer attracting much interest from its target audience, graduate and international students.
| Oct 12, 2010
Gartner Auditorium, Cleveland Museum of Art
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Silver Award. Gartner Auditorium was originally designed by Marcel Breuer and completed, in 1971, as part of his Education Wing at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Despite that lofty provenance, the Gartner was never a perfect music venue.
| Oct 12, 2010
Cell and Genome Sciences Building, Farmington, Conn.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Silver Award. Administrators at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington didn’t think much of the 1970s building they planned to turn into the school’s Cell and Genome Sciences Building. It’s not that the former toxicology research facility was in such terrible shape, but the 117,800-sf structure had almost no windows and its interior was dark and chopped up.
| Oct 12, 2010
The Watch Factory, Waltham, Mass.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards — Gold Award. When the Boston Watch Company opened its factory in 1854 on the banks of the Charles River in Waltham, Mass., the area was far enough away from the dust, dirt, and grime of Boston to safely assemble delicate watch parts.
| Oct 12, 2010
Cuyahoga County Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, Cleveland, Ohio
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Gold Award. The Cuyahoga County Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument was dedicated on the Fourth of July, 1894, to honor the memory of the more than 9,000 Cuyahoga County veterans of the Civil War.
| Oct 12, 2010
Building 13 Naval Station, Great Lakes, Ill.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Gold Award. Designed by Chicago architect Jarvis Hunt and constructed in 1903, Building 13 is one of 39 structures within the Great Lakes Historic District at Naval Station Great Lakes, Ill.
| Oct 12, 2010
Full Steam Ahead for Sustainable Power Plant
An innovative restoration turns a historic but inoperable coal-burning steam plant into a modern, energy-efficient marvel at Duke University.
| Oct 12, 2010
From ‘Plain Box’ to Community Asset
The Mid-Ohio Foodbank helps provide 55,000 meals a day to the hungry. Who would guess that it was once a nondescript mattress factory?
| Oct 8, 2010
Union Bank’S San Diego HQ awarded LEED Gold
Union Bank’s San Diego headquarters building located at 530 B Street has been awarded LEED Gold certification from the Green Building Certification Institute under the standards established by the U.S. Green Building Council. Gold status was awarded to six buildings across the United States in the most recent certification and Union Bank’s San Diego headquarters building is one of only two in California.