Knickerbocker Hotel

Knickerbocker Hotel

Knickerbocker Hotel

CITATION OF MERIT
INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE
Knickerbocker Hotel
Chicago, Illinois
Architect:Teng & Associates Inc.
Client/Owner:OCWEN Financial Corp.
General Contractor: Capitol Construction
Consultants: Elaine Cohen (furniture)
Photographer:Don DuBroff Photography

This vintage 1927 Gold Coast hotel required an extensive renovation of both its exterior and interior. An abomination of taste that dated from the 1970s was a futuristic spaceship-like canopy that hid the original two-story ornamental steel windows and deprived the lobby of natural light. The canopy and faux marble panels were removed, and the limestone facade was replaced and repaired. The building required tuckpointing, painting and a new canopy that respects its historical period.

In the Grand Ballroom the plaster ceiling and unusual illuminated dance floor were restored. New controlled lighting was added to accommodate seminars, lectures and performances. Restoration of the lobby was neither the owner's vision nor a viable option since most of the original ornament was obliterated during the 1973 remodeling. This project treated new elements as interventions within an existing enclosure. Stainless steel, glass, granite and limestone are combined with simplicity and clarity of detail to maintain separation and identity of old and new.



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