2018 IDEAS2 Awards Brochure - 61

ProMedica's new headquarters comprises the adaptive reuse of
not one but two existing buildings: a historic Daniel Burnhamdesigned steam plant dating back to the late 19th century and a
brutalist bank building-both adjacent to Promenade Park on the
Maumee River in downtown Toledo, Ohio.
Built in 1896, the former building served as a power plant until 1930, when it was converted to a steam plant to supply steam
heat to downtown buildings. The plant closed in 1985 and lay
vacant and shelled for nearly 30 years until its recent transformation into a 124,000-sq.-ft office building. A new four-story office
space was created inside the shell, using the existing roof and
existing north, south and west masonry walls to enclose the space,
with a three-story portion of the new building extending beyond
the original plant walls towards the Maumee River on the east;
the existing east masonry wall was demolished.
Structural steel was used to facilitate the desired plan, with
most of the steel being exposed. The floor plan both inside and
outside the original plant walls consists of large bays (50 ft ×
32 ft) to maximize column-free space and employs wide-flange
steel composite beams with up to 2 in. of camber. Floor-to-floor
heights were also limited by the existing plant's height, thus the
majority of the floors use beam depths of 24 in. or less.
The existing plan incorporates pairs of steel lattice columns,
set inside the existing masonry walls, at roughly 16 ft on center,
that support steel roof trusses spanning nearly 72 ft between the
east and west walls. While the building sat abandoned, exposure
to the elements and Toledo seasons left the steel with significant
rust, and in some cases with significant degradation. The steel
was sandblasted to remove surface rust and accumulated debris,
and a minimum steel thickness protocol was established for the
lattice column and roof truss evaluation. Members in which the
thickness was below the minimum required amount were either
replaced or reinforced accordingly. The lattice columns were
also cleaned and encased in concrete below grade. These existing
columns were used to support the new office floor framing and

are exposed throughout the building. All new connections to the
120-year-old steel were bolted, as welding was not a viable option
given the original steel's chemical composition.
The existing roof of the plant used clay book tiles and a grid of
WT steel members to support them. These tiles and WT members were removed and replaced with 2×6 wood decking running
up the slope between steel purlins spanning between the roof
trusses. The wood decking is intended to juxtapose the industrial
look of the steel trusses and existing masonry walls, giving the
office space a lively and dynamic feel.
Significant time was spent evaluating the two existing masonry pedestals supporting the steel stacks. Unfortunately, despite
all efforts, it was determined that the masonry pedestals and steel
anchor rods into the masonry pedestal at the base of the stacks
were too damaged/degraded to allow for safe remediation. Thus,
the stacks were removed and portions of the steel stack rings were
reused to create an art installation in the adjacent park called
Echo. Masonry bricks from the existing pedestals were salvaged
and reused to create the new rebuilt pedestals surrounding the
new stacks, and the stacks are lit up at night with ProMedica's
signature shade of green.
On the south side of building is a large open atrium that extends from the ground level to the roof. To brace the existing
south wall of the building at the atrium, an exposed W30×235
(LSH) spanning between the existing masonry walls was used.
The W30 connects to the existing south wall at roughly 12 ft on
center with threaded rods and adhesive. The original crane beam
was moved and positioned above this open atrium to serve as a
reminder to the history of the site, and the crane rails also run the
full length of the building, serving as a girder for the fourth-floor
framing; these crane rails originally served to support the crane
beam wheels as the crane rolled through the plant, moving heavy
equipment. The crane rails connect to the existing lattice columns with a bracketed connection near the finished fourth-floor
elevation of the office space.

A stunning demonstration of the adaptive reuse of a historic
steel-framed building in a manner that made the structure come alive.
-John Cross

2018 IDEAS2 Awards Brochure

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2018 IDEAS2 Awards Brochure