CASE STUDY

Project: Loews Hotel
Location: Chicago
Architect/Designer: Simeone Deary Design Group

The Challenge: The lobby and prefunction space of the Loews Hotel needed a ceiling treatment worthy of the design of the rest of the interior.

The Design Solution: The design team decided on a floral-based look and needed a means to make it a reality. It decided on a series of custom, three-dimensional GRG ceiling panels. Overall, this broke down into 87 parts needed to cover 2,200 square feet of ceiling space. GRG was the best-suited material because it’s economical, a Class A building material, lightweight, and integrates well with drywall.

The Manufacturing Process: The 3-D geometry is what ultimately determined the manufacturing approach. Further, there were enough repetitive castings to consider a custom casting versus machined/milled products.

Based on the architect’s design, shop drawings were prepared indicating the basic repetitive modules that could be created for the casting and assembly in the field.

Once the shop drawings were approved, then 3-D computer files were generated using computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software.

Using five axis computer numeric control (CNC) routers, medium-density fiberboard (MDF) was milled as the prototype. Once everyone was satisfied with that outcome, the MDF prototype was used to create the mold (or negative) that would receive the GRG material.

A slurry of water and gypsum are sprayed into the mold with fiber introduced at the right times to provide the reinforcement for the casting.

The GRG is allowed to cure or set, and then the castings are removed from the molds and numbered. As a quality-control check, they are assembled in a mockup to ensure that the design is correct and the parts align properly, all meeting the architect’s and installer’s expectations.

With everything checked out, the final 87 pieces were packed and braced in wooden crates. The crates were loaded onto a truck to deliver them to the job site.

The Installation: During the construction stage of the project as the drywall was being completed, the GRG castings were installed. Final finishing and any on-site touch up occurred as the rest of the walls and ceilings were similarly finished.

The Results: The finished ceiling is a dramatic and notable addition to the Loews Hotel in Chicago.