The Front Door
The original building design had a 3-story base that always seemed too tall for the building. The design program called for a 2-story restaurant and lobby along Michigan Avenue. Because none of the original terra cotta remained on the first three floors, the design team chose to switch to a 2-story base, relocating an ornate terra-cotta cornice down one floor and infilling above to match the upper floors. Defined by three new terra-cotta portals, which frame a folding glass wall that opens up the restaurant and lobby to the street, the base responds to the existing design while providing a more pedestrian scale to the sidewalk along Michigan Avenue and creating a new “living room” for the neighborhood.
Although technically an “infill” building, access to Michigan Avenue for hotel guest drop-off and pick-up was not allowed, requiring Garland Court, technically a street but appearing more like an alley, to act in that capacity. This dual entrance program required careful attention to how the back-of-house elements could coexist with the building’s west entrance, the first impression for guests arriving by car, taxi or rideshare.
Much time and effort, in both the original design and renovation, were spent on the Michigan Avenue façade, which is not only the front door to the building, but in a sense, a front door for the city. Because of that, the original design did not include an ornate terra-cotta façade for the west face of the building, but a glazed brick one with ornamental lintels and sills along with a single ornamental cornice at the top, the only element tying the front and back façades together. To address this change in material, the addition facing west was clad in a dark-gray brick instead of curtainwall, relating better to the original glazed brick façade.
Modern Interiors
The interior design of the building is modern, chic and playful, appropriate for a boutique hotel in this prime location, though the design still nods to the building’s historic past. Upon entering the hotel, one is greeted by a wall graphic that states, “#Meet with me, #Eat with me, #Sleep with me @ The Julian”.
The rooms are clean and contemporary with traditional details, like subway tile and black metal. The lobby and restaurant, About Last Knife, a modern take on a Chicago steakhouse, expose elements of the existing structure, like exterior masonry walls and rivetted-steel columns and beams, and meld them with a playful aesthetic of movable screens, wood and graphics.
The restaurant dining space is overlooked by a mural of Benjamin Marshall himself and features a large central bar with steel detailing. A series of movable walls, shelves and screens, allow the lobby and restaurant to open to each other, making the small footprint feel larger and providing for flexibility in how the spaces can be used. Graphics extend throughout the building from the entrance to the elevator doors, stairwells and even the toilet rooms.
The Hotel Julian project allowed a beautiful but deteriorated Benjamin Marshall building to be saved and transformed into a truly unique addition to the Chicago skyline and Michigan Avenue streetscape. The quality of the design and construction of this adaptive reuse has been transformative to the building and city, continuing the revitalization of this once neglected stretch of Michigan Avenue.
From design, engineering and construction viewpoints, there were many obstacles overcome and creative solutions implemented. Completed in 2018, the modern design is fully integrated into the old, creating something better than could have been achieved by tearing down or renovating the existing structure on its own.
Retrofit Team
Developer: Oxford Capital Group LLC and Quadrum Global
Hotel Operator: Oxford Hotels & Resorts LLC
Architect: Hirsch MPG LLC
- Howard Hirsch, AIA, ALA, LEED AP, principal in charge
- David Genc, AIA, design principal
- Matthew Starman, AIA, project architect
Interior Designer, Hotel Rooms/Floors: Gettys Group
Interior Designer, Restaurant, Lobby, Amenities: Workshop/APD
General Contractor: W.E. O’Neil Construction Co.
Project Manager: Daccord LLC
Structural Engineer: TGRWA
MEP-FP Engineer: WMA Consulting Engineers, now Salas O’Brien
Masonry/Historic Consultant: New World Design Ltd.
Terra-cotta Preservation: Central Building & Preservation L.P.
Terra-cotta Restoration Consultant: BTL Architects Inc.
Exterior Lighting Designer: Schuler Shook
Permit Consultant: Cornerstone Permit Co.
Materials
Terra Cotta: Boston Valley Terra Cotta
Brick: Manganese Ironspot, Velour, Utility, and Orleans Sands, Heritage, Modular, from Endicott Clay Products Co.
Granite: Black Honed from Quarra Stone Co. LLC
East-elevation Curtainwall and Punched Openings: Alliance Glazing Technologies and Superwall SSG from Wausau Window and Wall Systems
South- and West-elevation Punched Openings: K300 from Auburn Corp.
Elevators: Kone (cab retrofit, existing hoist way) and Cabworks Custom Elevators (interior)
Millwork: Vantage Architectural Solutions