Dallas - May 8, 2001� RTKL, as architect-of-record, is providing architectural and preservation services for the 916-key Renaissance Grand Hotel St. Louis, MO, to occupy a full city block in the heart of downtown directly south of the America�s Center convention complex.  The Renaissance Grand is part of a $270 million, 1081-room convention headquarters hotel complex that also includes the renovation of the historic Lennox Hotel into a 165-unit Renaissance Suites Hotel.  The undertaking is a joint effort of developers / owners Historic Restoration, Inc. of New Orleans and St. Louis, an urban development firm specializing in the adaptive re-use of historic buildings, and Dallas-based Kimberly-Clark Corporation, the Fortune 100 consumer product leader.  

Presently under construction, with completion slated for Winter 2002, the property will be operated and managed by Marriott International.  

�The Renaissance Grand centers around re-use of a downtown landmark, the circa 1917 Hotel Statler, now known as the Gateway Hotel,� said Todd Lundgren AIA, RTKL�s Dallas-based vice president-in-charge of the project.  

�We are restoring and preserving the exteriors and significant interior spaces of the existing property, while also adding a new 22-story tower on the block.  The new tower sensitively relates to the historic hotel and other surrounding structures in its design and use of materials.�

The new tower will be located immediately east of the 22-story Gateway.  Two ballrooms, that abut to a new 850-space parking facility, will be constructed on a large block west of the Gateway and linked to the hotel via an underground concourse.  Altogether, the hotel property will include 45,000-SF of ballroom and meeting space, a health club with indoor pool, two full service restaurants, a business center and street retail along the convention center side.

Located at Washington and Ninth Streets, the new property provides critically needed close-in accommodations for the America�s Center convention complex and the TransWorld Dome, scheduled to host the  2005 NCAA Men�s Final Four basketball championship.  With its focus on restoring the Hotel Statler, designed by George W. Post and Sons of New York and completed in 1917, the venture also contributes significantly to the city�s efforts to preserve historical structures.

�The primary elevations of the Hotel Statler (Gateway) are subdivided in the traditional Classical revival approach to high-rise design � base, midsection and crown,� said Karl Stumpf AIA, RTKL�s Washington DC-based vice president responsible for the preservation aspects of the project.  �The building�s entire exterior will be restored, to include conservation of materials and reconstruction of building elements where required.  Rehabilitation of interior spaces will focus on the first level main lobby, vestibules, mezzanine level balcony lounge, 22nd floor roof garden ballroom and other public spaces.�

The historic hotel features a three-story base that rests on a granite watertable and is clad with buff-colored Indiana limestone.  The midsection is clad in dark red brick masonry and terminates in an entablature of glazed gray terra cotta scored to simulate limestone.  The crown of the building consists of a monumental double-height Ionic colonnade of terra cotta masonry behind an encircling balustrade of the same material, supporting a entablature of terra cotta with overhanging double-bracketed zinc cornice. 

The design of the floor plan of the new tower is integrated with the existing hotel to form one cohesive building functionally.  The facade of the new tower, clad in brick and cast stone, is designed in keeping with the style and character to respectively add onto the existing hotel in a contemporary manner.

Peter Fillat Architects, LLC is the designer of the new hotel tower�s skin.
As architect-of-record, RTKL�s scope of work for the design build fast- track project includes managing the design process and carrying it through construction administration.  The firm is also responsible for historic preservation work as well as planning and programming for all interior spaces.

RTKL�s scope of work for the Gateway Hotel also includes preparing the National Park Service Historic Preservation Certification Application for federal tax credits and reviewing design issues for compliance with the Secretary of the Interior�s Standards for Rehabilitation.

RTKL�s Renaissance Grand Hotel St. Louis design team includes: Todd Lundgren AIA, vice president-in-charge; Karl Stumpf AIA, vice president-in-charge of preservation and restoration services; David Breeding AIA, project manager; Melissa Paul, project architect; and Brian Till and Fawn Chen, staff architects.

RTKL�s team of consultants for the project includes:  Campbell & Associates Consulting Engineers, Inc. (Chicago), structural engineering; Environmental Systems Design, Inc. (Chicago), MEP Engineering; Code Consultants, Inc. (St. Louis), fire protection/alarm systems and code consulting services; Forrestperkins, LLC (Dallas), interiors; Lerch, Bates & Associates Inc. (Littleton, CO), vertical transportation; Randy Burkett Lighting Design (St. Louis); Don E. Cheatwood Associates (Rockville, MD), food service; and DeShazo, Tang & Associates Inc. (Dallas), parking consultant.

The contractor for the project is St. Louis-headquartered J.S. Alberici Construction Co., Inc. (in association with M.L. Johnson & Company Inc.). 

One of the world�s most influential multi-disciplined design firms, RTKL delivers ideas for a changing world, solutions which bridge cultures and technologies.  Well accustomed to working in unexpected places with unconventional processes, RTKL collaborates with clients to create economically viable places that celebrate the way we live.  To date, the firm has amassed a portfolio of work that exceeds 1 billion square feet and extends to 60 nations.  For additional information, visit www.rtkl.com.