The Drake Hotel, one of Chicago’s most recognizable architectural landmarks, has graced the north end of Michigan Avenue during the greater part of the twentieth century. Designed by the influential architecture firm of Marshall and Fox and built in 1919-1920, its distinctive Italian Renaissance style has long been considered the epitome of luxury in Chicago.

In 2000, Klein and Hoffman, Inc. was retained by Hilton International to evaluate the Drake’s distressed limestone façades and formulate a rehabilitation plan that would carry the building into its second century. For more than a decade, we have served as the Drake’s prime architectural engineering consultant on a variety of projects, including, but not limited to, the following:

• 2000 – 2001 – $1.4 million Façade Restoration
• 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, & 2016 – City of Chicago Façade Ordinance Examinations and Reports
• 2004 – Structural Investigation of Concrete Kitchen Floor Slab and Elevator Shaft Wall and Outrigger Flagpole Investigation
• 2006 – Structural investigation of Concrete Floor Slab
• 2007 – Rehabilitation of Three Fire Escapes
• 2011 – $1.26 million Roof Evaluation and Replacement
• 2011 – 2012 – Restoration of Ornamental South Entrance Canopy
• 2012 – 2013 – South courtyard and penthouse roofing replacement
• 2012 & 2016 – Architectural and Structural Iron Inspections
• 2012 – Present – Long-term, Multi-phase Façade Repair Program