I have lived a few blocks away from The Iron Horse Hotel for over 3 years now, and unfortunately dismissed it. Purely out of naivety I passed it off as just another overpriced spot for business men to spend the night. While I haven't had the need to stay there ever I feel like I have missed out. The short answer the Iron Horse was just well executed. It has a beauty and elegance that is balanced perfectly with rugged comfort. The fact that this building was adapted from its original use makes it even more of a succes. I have worked on building a new home and I have worked redoing and updating older areas of homes, i.e. kitchens and bathrooms. By far that later is much more work. My experience is only involved with small projects. For the Iron Horse hotel the extensive evaluation of the area, the building and the architecture must have been quite an undertaking.

The layout the bar and restaurants all the way down to the scraps sitting on the coffee tables it all flows together. You walk into the hotel and you can feel there is history in it. Part of that is because not only did adapt the building they saved materials and brought them back into the hotel and example being the concrete countertops. The look and feel of the Iron Horse isn't because it's true to a certain time period, but more the feeling of an era. It's jumbled up history which is much more true to life.

The Smyth's Main Entrance

This sliding door from the interior of The Iron Horse Hotel strongly embodies the rehabilitation of this building. The Iron Horse Hotel, is known for taking materials from the original state of the warehouse/factory and reusing them for aesthetic purposes in the interior design of the hotel. This sliding door was originally a safety measure used in case fire caught from the factory to the warehouse. They would just slide it shut in order to prevent it from spreading so quickly.

The Iron Horse now uses it for the main entrance into their restaurant, Smyth. Similarly it is the primary divide between the hotel and the restaurant. I believe this was a design aesthetic that not only incorporated original material but also was used as a symbol. That though the hotel and the restaurant are within the same building, they can reside as separate entities. Because of Smyth, local Milwaukee residents can also experience The Iron House without renting a room.

The Iron Horse's rehabilitation is a prime example of what rehabilitation should entail. Instead of merely preserving a place that could have possibly just of went unkept for years and years, the architects and designers really took into account that this space has the possibility to be used for something productive. Because the hotel supports the idea of taking old and making it new, it is clear that the sliding door sheds so much light to this notion. It is one of the first things that is seen while entering the front doors, and its bulky industrial look makes it stand out from many of the other structures within the waiting area. You can see that hotel prides itself in saving such an interesting piece of the building.

Iron Horse Site Visit

The site visit to the Iron Horse Hotel was really something amazing and a great opportunity to view the reuse of a historic building. Not only is the Iron Horse a reuse of a historic building, it does a very successful job of it. As our guide had mentioned the different and varying components of a hotel that all must come together are difficult let alone to do it successfully in a building that was in no way designed to be a hotel.

The picture I chose to showcase how the Iron

Horse Hotel embodies the successful reuse of a historic building is one taken in the main lobby of the iron horse hotel looking upwards and at the west wall towards the Smyth gourmet restaurant. I chose this picture because of the main aspect of the wooden beams used to support the structure. As our guide had said this type of architecture using wooden beams in no longer in use due to fire hazards realized by the Chicago fire. Rather than destroy or cover up the pillars and beams they are showcased, no only in the lobby but in every room on every floor. It shows not only the original structure of the building but also the old architecture and how reliant mankind was on materials provided by nature and not so much those created by man such as steel and other metals.

In the same way the wooden structure shows man's reliance on natural materials the Iron Horse also shows man's hard wood, specifically the cream brick that Milwaukee is known for. I think it was important and crucial for the Iron Horse to showcase the cream city brick but also to try and use as many materials from within Milwaukee as possible. This works with the preservation aspect because of the use local materials, just like local materials would have been used when the original building was built.

One final important aspect this photo showcases in the old elevator doorway around the center of the photo. This is a great feature for adaptive reuse. At first I thought of it as a pointless opening, maybe a doorway that was there that was not filled in to keep aesthetic similarities between the rest of the lobby and the balcony of the second floor that stretched around two other sides of the room. Then our guide mentioned how when bigger parties are present it is most often used as a place for the DJ to set up. I thought that this was an amazing idea, one that even had come later was a great execution of a space rather than trying to cover it up my mimicking the original cream city brick.

Soaking-up History

Constructed in 1907, The Iron Horse Hotel is an excellent example of adaptive reuse, history, architecture, and preservation. One of the first things that caught my attention upon entering the hotel was its flooring. It came across as welcoming and inviting, while having a story to tell. The floor is a reproduction of the original factory floor, and is constructed of end-grain lumber. This type of flooring is extremely durable, and was a common choice for many factories for this reason. It also absorbs more dirt, oils, and liquids than traditional hardwood floors, but this gives it a beautiful, worn appearance. I was amazed to see the difference in floor coloration when our guide lifted the carpet up to show us the color that the floor once was. This worn-in character gives the floor a rich patina, which is a prolonged exposure to dirt and wear, which gives it a heightened value of historic character (Murtagh 104). I see this darkening of pigmentation as the building’s continued absorption of history.

The National Trust describes adaptive use as “the process of converting a building to a use other than that for which is was designed” (Murtagh 99). This is exactly what The Iron Horse Hotel did when it transitioned from a warehouse and factory for the Berger Bedding Company to a storage facility, and finally to the beautiful hotel it has become today (theironhorsehotel.com). I think it is a huge benefit for the hotel to have reproduced the original flooring as part of its adaptive use. Not only for the fact that both bikers and business people can feel comfortable walking on them, but also because it lends a historically valuable aspect to the building’s overall architecture and heritage. By choosing to preserve the essence of this flooring through a historically accurate replacement, the hotel is able to showcase its past effectively. I also liked that the hotel’s designers chose to use primarily recycled materials for the floor and the overall aesthetic of the building. This gave me a sense of nostalgia, and made me want to travel back in time to see more of what the building once looked like. This overall appearance not only keeps the hotel’s look true to its original time, but also separates it from all other hotels.

Works Cited:

"History." The Iron Horse Hotel. The Iron Horse Hotel in Milwaukee, 2010. Web. 04 Oct. 2011. http://www.theironhorsehotel.com/our-story/history.html.

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Murtagh, William J. Keeping Time: the History and Theory of Preservation in America. 3rd ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley, 2006. Print.

Concepts and Identity Through Reuse

The image that I chose to depict what I feel is the single most defining element of the Iron Horse Hotel includes the pediments on the facade of the building. Though these are original, they have been adapted not only in multiple forms throughout the interior of the building, but also have been used to brand the identity of the building as a hotel. The shape of the ornamentation brings to mind a horse's head. The shapes also reveal what could be seen as the letters "I" and "H." When concepting was being done for the hotel, the surrounding environment was used for inspiration as well. Directly next to the Iron Horse Hotel are the railroad tracks for the old Soo line. When Native American Indians lived in the area, they referred to the train as the "Iron Horse." Not only did this tie in conceptually with the identity of the area, it also tied in directly to the defining aesthetic of the individual building. The hotel is situated across the street from the Harley Davidson Museum, another defining characteristic of Milwaukee. Half of the hotel's patrons are motorcycle riders/enthusiasts, so the idea was also put forth that the motorcycle can be viewed as the modern day "Iron Horse." This aesthetic is carried out in the interior on the form of actual brands on furniture, logos on multiple items, and coat and purse hangers throughout the entire hotel. If I took one image from this tour and saw how it was capitalized on, duplicated, and reused to the most benefit of the hotel, it was the Iron Horse itself. This is a prime example of taking an original object on a site and using it to accentuate the historicism and character of the site itself. Though this building is being reused as a hotel currently, with many new additions, I believe the "Iron Horse" is a respectful touch to the building's history. This feature encourages me, as a member of the community, to want to research more of the history of the area.

Character

char·ac·ter -[kar-ik-ter] noun

Character: the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person or thing. ("Dictionary.com")

The Iron Horse has character that makes the building feel alive. The past is merged with the present perfectly in a way that creates a unique and cohesive environment for guests. The item that I chose to photograph that I feel is one detail that gives the building character is the table bases that were made from the original elevator shaft of the hotel. The repurposing of the elevator shaft to the table bases gives the furniture a dignified and yet rustic appearance, giving character to the hotel.

It was clear, the moment I stepped foot into the Iron Horse Hotel, that a lot of thought was put into the branding of the hotel. The extensive thought that has been put into the repurposing of the building is one of the main contributing factors as to why the operation is as successful as it is.

"Character." Dictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Oct 2011. .

A Hidden Arch

When we first stopped at the Iron Horse we discussed the half arch on the exterior of the building, it seemed minimal at first but then it became reoccurring. The arch showed up in the Iron Horse logo and was throughout the building. It was incorporated into the coat racks, the floor rugs, branded onto wood barrels and the hotel dollies. The more I looked the more it became a presence. I found this to be the most interesting thing from our tour. They were not only preserving the integrity of the building with the cedar beams and brick, but they incorporated the Chicago brick style and headstone into there design. Although the interior seemed to be completely changed they took one of the smaller elements from the outside and incorporated it throughout. Although it might not necessarily play into preservation it was humbling to see it thought out in the process.

The Iron Horse was able to take a beautiful beat down building and turn it into a booming diverse business. In the three year conversion the integrity of the wooden structure was still intact and they achieved a vintage feel for the space.They incorporated the original arch from the exterior and emulated it throughout the space. The building may no longer represent the bedding factory that once took its place, but the business brings the left over parts into the limelight. I believe Dixon Development did a great job at reviving this building and succeed in preserving the integrity of the original structure.