Being involved in renovating one of Chicago’s most iconic buildings, the historic Marshall Field’s Department Store and what is the current Macy’s flagship store in the loop to offer 650,000 square feet of premier office space, as well as first in class amenities and rooftop deck with expansive views of Lake Michigan, has been a privilege. All Burnham Buildings require the level of finesse that Brookfield brings to all their retrofits. The things that make this building so iconic, such as the vaulted Tiffany ceiling, are the things that require the most careful consideration from Cerami’s acoustic engineers. When you add a fitness center to a building that is well over 125 years old, and is a National Historic Landmark, controlling impact from fitness activities relies on careful coordination of programming and isolated flooring systems to successfully provide functionality in the building.

Signature Solution: The top floors, eight through fourteen, were remediated from their historic condition and transformed into white space for office build-outs. White space doesn’t mean white noise. There was a desire to retain a historic feeling and stately elegance in everything, including the acoustics.