Consulting-Specifying Engineer - January 2009 - (Page 25) After losing the original Palmer House Hotel to the Great Chicago Fire only 13 days after the hotel opened, Potter Palmer replaced it with an elegant new Palmer House, which opened in 1873. The seven-story hotel featured noncombustible construction, elevators, electric lights, and telephones in guest rooms. Commercial growth in Chicago supported construction of a new 25-story noncombustible hotel building adjacent to the existing hotel in 1927. That addition provided a new main entrance and grand lobby with ceiling murals of Greek mythology and ornate plaster work, an attraction even today. Hilton Hotels Corp. bought the property in 1945, and it has been operated as one of Hilton’s premier properties since then. In 2005, Thor Equities acquired the property with a commitment to restore its grandeur and revive its mercantile face on Chicago’s State Street. The Palmer House is the longest continuously operating hotel in the United States. Each owner has added life safety features to the property as the hotel has continued to maintain its reputation for quality as a world-class hotel. Improving egress Thor’s recent renovation project increased the property’s retail space from 50,000 to 150,000 sq ft and provided interior space to add three new interior protected exit stairs to improve egress capacity. The new stairs discharge directly to the outside, which permitted the removal of unsightly fire escapes from the State Street façade. When the original buildings were completed in 1873 and 1927, the egress stairs discharged into the street-level arcade or other levels higher in the building. This was a common design practice for major hotels at the time. Although the building included many stairways, only one was continuous from the roof to the basement levels. The Sprinklers and piping were designed and installed so that they can barely be seen. Locations were selected to fit into the plaster decor and coloring. All photos: Thor Equities recent renovation project has improved the egress system by adding the three interior protected exits, which: • Connect the previously existing stairs serving guest room levels to exits that discharge directly to the outside at grade level • Increase exit capacity from the meeting room and ballroom levels. Another improvement in the renovation project is the addition of fire-rated separations on guest room and meeting room floors to provide horizontal exits. This enhances public safety for both able-bodied and disabled occupants by providing separation and areas of refuge. Entrance/exit doors, canopies, and corridors on the street level were improved to enhance the exterior appeal and permit expansion of the spaces dedicated to retail use. Automatic sprinklers In 1987, Hilton added automatic fire sprinkler systems in a major retrofit project covering all guest room and back-ofhouse floors. Quick-response sprinklers were selected for guest rooms to maximize response for life safety. The installation did not cover the ornate main lobby and the Empire Room in deference to the desire to protect the unique construction and décor of those well-known spaces. The lobby was covered by a projected-beam-type smoke detector until it was later covered by automatic sprinklers. Hilton responded to the challenge of automatic sprinkler coverage in the ornate main lobby and the Empire Room in a subsquent project. The design and installation of the system was controlled carefully to conceal the piping and place the sprinklers in locations that harmonize with the unique décor, while conforming to coverage ratings. Placing the sprinklers in unobtrusive locations meeting applicable installation standards was a challenge met by attention to detail. The sprinkler locations were selected to fit unobtrusively into the pattern of plaster décor and coloring where sprinklers were to be visible. Other sprinklers were installed in previously existing openings in the plaster work. The result is that to the casual observer the sprinklers are not noticeable. It takes a trained eye to see them. Fire alarm and smoke detection The fire alarm and automatic fire detection systems have been installed and upgraded in several iterations. The most recent project was completed at the end of 2008; workers installed a high-rise fire alarm ASHRAE and The Palmer House ASHRAE has a long history at The Palmer House. The organization will hold its 14th Winter Conference/Meeting at the hotel Jan. 24 to 28, 2009. The first meeting was held in 1961, just after ASHRAE became the organization it is today (a merger of ASRE and ASHAE). The conference is held every three years. Additional information is at www.ashrae.org/chicago. Consulting-Specifying Engineer • JANUARY 2009 25 http://www.ashrae.org/chicago
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