What does it take to reach 100? As part of our 100th anniversary celebration, we’re posting a piece of Berglund’s history on our blog each day for 100 days. Check in each day to learn new tidbits about our company, win prizes based on your Berglund knowledge, and, most of all, to help us celebrate.

Spotlight on Berglund’s Work: Restoration

Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Building

What weighs as much as 1,500 midsize cars? The amount of rubble that Berglund removed from this Milwaukee building during restoration.

Berglund restored 100 percent of the façade of the building, which dates back to 1886 and formerly housed insurance company Northwestern Mutual. During the process, we hauled away 3,000 tons of material from the site, replacing it with carefully replicated stone to bring the building back to its original grandeur.

What does it take to reach 100? As part of our 100th anniversary celebration, we’re posting a piece of Berglund’s history on our blog each day for 100 days. Check in each day to learn new tidbits about our company, win prizes based on your Berglund knowledge, and, most of all, to help us celebrate.

Remember, there’s just one more day to answer the latest Berglund 101 question and win a $15 Starbucks card!

Spotlight on Berglund’s Work: Restoration

Platt Luggage Building

What happens when a building no longer works in its original location? In the Platt Luggage Building’s case, you pick it up and move it down the street.

The ornate Beaux-Arts-style building features sandstone medallions, Latin inscriptions, Doric columns and arched windows, and is a designated Chicago landmark. Designed by famed architect Howard Doren Shaw and built in 1907, the Platt sat at 23^rd Street and Prairie Avenue for nearly a century. Trouble began brewing, however, when the McCormick Place convention center proposed an expansion that ran smack into the Platt. After discussions with local preservation officials, McCormick considered incorporating the building into its own expanded design. When that didn’t work, the two sides agreed to relocate the building’s facade to 22^nd Street and King Drive, fitting it to the front of the Trigen-Peoples District Energy Co. building.

Berglund undertook the labor-intensive task of dismantling the intricate façade and reassembling it at its new location. We documented each brick and limestone with thousands of digital pictures and elevation drawings, and paid special attention to details such as radial brick columns, the limestone cornice and water table, and brick arches. The relocated façade now serves as the western gateway to McCormick Place and also sits next to another Shaw-designed building, the R.R. Donnelley printing plant. Safely situated at its new home, the Platt is preserved for future generations to enjoy.

What does it take to reach 100? As part of our 100^th anniversary celebration, we’re posting a piece of Berglund’s history on our blog each day for 100 days. Check in each day to learn new tidbits about our company, win prizes based on your Berglund knowledge, and, most of all, to help us celebrate.

Spotlight on Berglund’s Work: Restoration

American School of Correspondence Building

Whether it’s old soda cans or an old building, the University of Chicago is committed to recycling. So when the American School of Correspondence relocated from the university’s Hyde Park campus to a new site in Lansing, Ill., university officials gave the old building new life as an administration center.

The former building for the correspondence high school, which opened in 1897 and counts Jessica Alba and Andre Agassi among its graduates, was designated as a Chicago landmark in 1995. When Berglund began the restoration, the historic building needed major interior and exterior work. Berglund replaced the building’s roof; repaired the heating, plumbing and electrical systems; updated the foyer; reconfigured the office layout; and made the building accessible for the disabled. Berglund also took care to minimize disruptions to administrative employees who worked out of temporary office space in the building during construction.

Since the university was anxious to complete the restoration, Berglund fast-tracked the project and self-performed many trade jobs to speed the process along. The restoration wrapped up in 2006, giving the university a recycled space that maintained the campus’ architectural integrity, yet felt brand-new. The project also earned Berglund the 2008 Marian and Leon Despres Architectural Preservation Award, presented by the Hyde Park Historical Society.

What does it take to reach 100? As part of our 100^th anniversary celebration, we’re posting a piece of Berglund’s history on our blog each day for 100 days. Check in each day to learn new tidbits about our company, win prizes based on your Berglund knowledge, and, most of all, to help us celebrate.

Spotlight on Berglund’s Work: Restoration

University of Chicago International House

The older a building gets, the more likely it is that its town’s ordinances will eventually leave it in the dust. That’s what happened to International House, the University of Chicago’s home-away-from-home for students and faculty from around the world. The residence hall was built in 1932, and by 2003, the entire limestone exterior needed a makeover to meet Chicago’s new façade regulations.

The university turned to Berglund to bring International House up to code while maintaining its historical integrity. Since the building would be occupied throughout the restoration process, Berglund met with the hall’s residents ahead of time to discuss proper safety precautions and posted regular updates in the hall throughout construction. During restoration, the company removed 4,500 limestones from the façade – some of which weighed close to 1,000 pounds – and rehabbed each one, including grinding and tuckpointing. Berglund also dismantled and restored the building’s ornately decorated central tower, as well as three buttresses.

The result? A fully restored exterior that kept the city happy.