Clark Adams Building

Clark Adams Building
  1. About the Clark Adams Building in Chicago
  2. Architect and team
  3. Architectureal style
  4. Spaces and uses
  5. Structure and materials

The Clark Adams Building is an Art-deco skyscraper designed by Burnham Brothers and built between 1926 and 1927 in Chicago, IL.

Clark Adams Building is not the only name you might know this building by though. The building is, or has also been known as Bankers Building.

Its precise street address is 105 West Adams Street, Chicago, IL. You can also find it on the map here.

The building has been restored 2 times over the years to ensure its conservation and adaptation to the pass of time. The main restoration works happened in 2006 and 2011.

Building's timeline

Construction begins
1926
98
Construction completed
1927
97
a
Restoration
2006
18
b
Restoration
2011
13
years ago
2024
  1. 2006 - Restoration. The architect in charge was Holsten Real State.
  2. 2011 - Restoration. The architect in charge was Holsten Real State.

Architect and team

Burnham Brothers was the architecture firm in charge of the architectural design.

The Burnham Brothers architecture studio was one of the most prominent Chicago-based firms of the late 19th and early 20th century. Both brothers, Daniel H. Burnham and John H. Burnham, had previously worked at their dad's studio D. H. Burnham & Company and decided to establish their own practice after he passed away.

The work of the newly formed family studio became key in the development of the city of Chicago taking the direction it took, and becoming what it is today.

The firm had a strong influence in the 1909 Plan of Chicago, which laid the foundation for the city's urban expansion. They were known for their innovative designs, as well as for their interest in the urban space and its relationship with architecture.

Architectural Style

The Clark Adams Building can be categorized as an Art-deco building.

The Art Deco movement flourished during the 1920s and 1930s, with many historians marking the outbreak of World War II as its final decline. Even though a couple of decades might not seem as much, the Art Deco movement had a great impact on architecture, and it's widely represented in many American cities due to the development boom that happened during that time.

Art Deco marked the abandonment of traditional historicism and the embracement of modern living and the age of the machine. In architecture, that meant leaving behind the ornaments of Beux-Arts and Neo-Gothic buildings and instead favoring simplicity and visual impact through geometric shapes, clean lines, and symmetrical designs. Ornaments were still an important part of the design, but they became bold and lavish, and were often inspired by ancient cultures or industrial imagery, instead of nature.

The Clark Adams Building was completed in 1927, right when the Art Deco movement was at its peak, so it kind of went with the trend at that time.

Spaces & Uses

The Clark Adams Building reaches an architectural height of 476ft (145m). It has a total of 41 floors.

Ever since opening its doors to the public in 1927, the Clark Adams Building has mainly been used as Commercial space, with other complementary uses such as hotel space.

About the Hotel

The hotel is a 4 stars category hotel. The name of the hotel is Club Quarters Hotel Central Loop.

476ft (145m)

Materials & Structure

The Clark Adams Building uses a frame structure made of steel columns and concrete slabs.

A frame structure uses a combination of beams and columns to sustain the building's weight. The walls in this case are non-load bearing, which allows for more flexibility when distributing the interior spaces.

The facade is non-load bearing either, as it is common in frame structure type buildings.

From an aesthetic point of view, the facade features a stone base that spans the first 5 floors. From there on, the facade combines bricks of two different tones to achieve its distinctive design.