Site
The landmark Skidmore, Owings & Merrill–designed Inland Steel building of 1955.

Program
A green office hotel: sustainable office space that can be rented out with a full package of furnishings and finishes.

Solution
SOM is revisiting its iconic Inland Steel building with an eye for sustainability. The project won an ARCHITECT R+D Award in 2008, in recognition of green strategies such as motorized shades to regulate heat gain, chilled beams to minimize the need for traditional HVAC, and a green roof to reduce the heat island effect. A suite of reusable partitions and office furniture made from sustainable materials answers the needs of most any tenant while reducing waste from repeated refits. "The most ecologically sensitive thing you can do is to not tear a building down," Georgeen Theodore said. "And to come up with a strategy that not only includes the interior partitions but also the family of furniture, made from sustainable materials—that's a viable strategy, and a necessary one given our landscape."

Project Credits
Project: Inland Steel Building Restoration
Client: Capital Properties
Architect: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, New York—Stephen Apking (design partner); Peter Magill (managing partner); Carl Galioto (technical partner); Richard Summa (project manager); Nazila Shabestari Duran (project manager); Claes Henric Appelquist (senior designer); Jim Simmons (technical coordinator); Noboru Ota, John Darrow, Katherine Shen (designers); Ece Calguner Erzan, Fatmir Hodzic (technical architects); Jeong Hee Kim, Yoonsoo Oh, Joey Fonacier (rendering team); Madeline Chang (material research); Jennifer Rainey (LEED specialist)
M/E/P/Structural Engineers: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Chicago—Roger Frechette (HVAC/M/E/P director); John Pulley (manager of sustainable engineering); Jeffery Boyer (sustainable engineer); Bin Hu (sustainable specialist); Mike Scotter (mechanical associate); Kenneth Mocko (mechanical engineer); Noriel Nicholas (electrical associate); Mir Hameeduddin (electrical engineer); Ishac Koussa, Thomas Bailey (plumbing engineers); William Baker (structural partner); Chuck Besjak (associate structural director); Brian McElhatten (structural engineer)