June 13, 2018

(Chicago, IL) – ProMedica Corporate Headquarters in Toledo, Ohio, has earned national recognition in the 2018 Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel awards program (IDEAS²). In honor of this achievement, members of the project team will be presented with awards from the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) during a ceremony to take place at the building on Monday, June 25, at 1 p.m. ET.

In recognition of its particular accomplishments in adaptive reuse, the project has been selected to receive the IDEAS² Award’s Presidential Award of Excellence for Adaptive Reuse, the only project in the competition to be so honored.

“This project is such a feel-good story, taking familiar existing buildings and giving them new life,” said Charlie Carter, AISC’s president. “It’s a double victory for sustainable design. Not only did the designers re-use what already exists, they adapted it all to serve the new program with structural steel, the most sustainable material you can choose.”

The project’s team members include:

• Owner: ProMedica, Toledo, Ohio
• Structural Engineer: HKS, Inc., Dallas (entered the project in the competition)
• Architect: HKS, Inc., Chicago
• General Contractor: Rudolph Libbe Inc., Walbridge, Ohio
• Steel Fabricator and Detailer: Art Iron, Inc., Toledo, Ohio (AISC member/AISC certified)
• Steel Erector: GEM, Inc., Walbridge, Ohio (AISC member)

ProMedica’s new headquarters comprises the adaptive reuse of not one but two existing buildings: a historic Daniel Burnham-designed 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. Structural steel was used to facilitate the desired plan, with most of the steel being exposed.

“A stunning demonstration of the adaptive reuse of a historic steel-framed building in a manner that made the structure come alive,” said John Cross, PE, vice president of special projects for AISC and the AISC staff juror in the competition.

The 12 IDEAS² winners for 2018 were chosen from nearly 100 submissions received from architectural and engineering and other project team member firms throughout the U.S. Each submission is reviewed and award winners are selected by a nationally recognized panel of design and construction industry professionals. The IDEAS² award dates back more than 50 years with AISC and is the highest honor bestowed on building projects by the U.S. structural steel industry.

Members of the media may request high-resolution images of the project by contacting AISC’s Tasha O’Berski at 312.670.5439 or oberski@aisc.org. For more information about the IDEAS² awards and to view all of this year’s winners, please visit www.aisc.org/ideas2. The 2019 competition will open for entries next Monday, June 18.

(Photo: Tom Harris - TH Photography)