1K Fulton: Chicago Cold Storage Facility Defrosted To Make Way For New Adaptive Reuse Office

For most of the last century, the <a href="http://www.ediblegeography.com/defrost-prior-to-consumption/" target="_blank">Fulton Street Cold Storage buildin</a>g has been keeping food fresh in Chicago, but like your freezer, it eventually built up a thick layer of ice. Decades of use (and disuse) resulted in amazing ice stalagmites and stalactites formations on the floors and ceilings. While incredibly beautiful, ice doesn't go well with modern offices, and it was time to transform the old refrigerator into a new commercial building and headquarters for bike components manufacturer, <a href="http://www.sram.com/" target="_blank">SRAM</a>. They literally had to defrost the building and bring in heaters to get rid of the ice before they could start construction. Developed by <a href="http://www.sterlingbay.net/pages/projects/1000fulton.php" target="_blank">Sterling Bay Companies</a>, and designed by <a href="http://www.hparchitecture.com/" target="_blank">Hartshorne Plunkard Architects</a> and <a href="http://blog.perkinswill.com/emerging-from-the-deep-freeze-srams-new-global-headquarters/" target="_blank">Perkins+Will</a>, <a href="http://inhabitat.com/former-cold-storage-warehouse-in-chicago-to-be-transformed-into-a-glassy-office-building/" target="_blank">1K Fulton</a> is already being renovated into a new LEED-certified office and retail building in Chicago's Fulton Market District.

When Fulton Street Cold Storage building was built in 1923 it was one of the most technologically advanced refrigeration buildings with elevators, cork insulation, sprinkler system and ammonia refrigeration technology.

But over time technology improved and the Fulton building lost its edge and eventually decided to sell.

Sterling Bay Companies is developing the building into a modern, LEED-certified office building that will also include parking and retail in the emerging Fulton Market District.

Located nearby Chicago's newest transit stop at <a href="http://inhabitat.com/chicagos-new-morgan-station-is-the-first-new-cta-transit-stop-in-15-years/" target="_blank">Morgan Station</a>, the 1K Fulton good access to transportation and has a prime spot in a trendy new area.

The building will serve as the new headquarters for bike components manufacturer, <a href="http://www.sram.com/" target="_blank">SRAM</a> and will include dedicated bike parking,on-site bicycle detailing and repair, a bleacher stair for group gatherings, a product development machine shop, and an internal cycling test track.

Designed by <a href="http://www.hparchitecture.com/" target="_blank">Hartshorne Plunkard Architects</a> and <a href="http://blog.perkinswill.com/emerging-from-the-deep-freeze-srams-new-global-headquarters/" target="_blank">Perkins+Will</a>, the solid brick exterior is being revamped to allow for daylighting into the exterior and a new five-story building next door will house parking and be topped with a green roof garden.

Work commenced on the building in the fall of 2012, but the first thing they had to do was defrost it.

As the building had not been efficiently used in the last decade, inches (even feet is some spots) of ice had grown inside.

The formations are staggeringly beautiful and the ice cave is a wonder to behold.

Alas, the ice had to go, and the developer brought in propane heaters to melt the ice cave. The time lapse video is especially incredible.