New Hotel

IMEG provided engineering design and services for the Viceroy Chicago in the exclusive Gold Coast neighborhood. Located at the site of the 1920s-era Cedar Hotel and just steps to the Magnificent Mile and Lake Michigan, the property is Viceroy’s first destination in Chicago. The hotel tower incorporates the four-story Cedar Hotel brick and terra cotta façade facing the street.

The new, 18-story boutique hotel offers a locally-inspired luxury experience with 180 guestrooms, including 42 suites. Amenities include a restaurant, rooftop bar, pool, and lounge, as well as 3,600-sf of meeting and event space. Additional spaces include two kitchens, a ballroom, meeting rooms, fitness room, and amenity space in addition to back-of-house support areas and mechanical/electrical rooms.

IMEG provided MEP and fire protection design for the 135,000-sf building. The designs included a 400-ton water cooled chilled water plant and condensing boiler plant, a 480V electrical system with 300 kW generator, and a domestic water heating plant with 1,500 gallons of storage. The third floor houses all mechanical centralized systems, including hydronics and air handling units, to avoid placing equipment on the rooftop bar and pool area.

A tight urban site and floor area ratio limitations required eliminating all unnecessary space from the building. This time-intensive effort was accomplished through collaboration between the design and construction teams to coordinate all of the systems. The recreation of the historic façade also presented architectural and MEP challenges due to the new use of the building.

Sustainable technologies include a high-efficiency chilled water and hot water plant (for a four-pipe fan coil system serving the guest rooms) and the use of LED lighting throughout.