Solomon Cordwell Buenz

Hotel At Oberlin

Hotel At Oberlin
© Brad Feinknopf

HOTEL AT OBERLIN

Solomon Cordwell Buenz

ARCHITECTS
Solomon Cordwell Buenz

LEAD ARCHITECTS
SCB

INTERIOR DESIGN
The Gettys Group, Inc.

STRUCTURAL
Halvorson And Partners, Inc.

MEP
Imeg Corp.

LANDSCAPE AND CIVIL
Neff & Associates

ART INSTALLATION AND LANDSCAPE DESIGN
Maya Lin Studio

ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER
Transsolar Kilma Engineering

MANUFACTURERS
Draper, Rieder Group, Cascadia, Innovation Glass, Kolbe, ROCKWOOL

CONTRACTOR
Am Higley

PHOTOGRAPHS
Brad Feinknopf

AREA
51152 ft²

YEAR
2016

LOCATION
Oberlin, United States

CATEGORY
Hotels, Sustainability

Text description provided by architect.

The Hotel at Oberlin is the major program element of the Peter B. Lewis Gateway Center, a 104,000-square-foot mixed-use building thatreimagines the campus hotel typology to create a focal point that unites the city and the college.

Hotel At Oberlin
© Brad Feinknopf
Hotel At Oberlin
© Brad Feinknopf

The high-tech and highly sustainable center visually signals the technologically and ecologically progressive nature of the Green Arts District.

Through a groundbreaking mix of sustainable strategies and technologies, it is on track to become LEED Platinum certified—just the fifth new hospitality project in the country to achieve this standard.

Hotel At Oberlin
© Brad Feinknopf
Hotel At Oberlin
© Brad Feinknopf

As measured by Energy Use Intensity, the building will be within the top ranking of commercial structures in North America, using 55 percent less energy than comparable buildings.

Designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB) in collaboration with Transsolar Climate Engineers, the Gateway Center is a model for high performance building design and whole-systems thinking.

Hotel At Oberlin
© Brad Feinknopf
Hotel At Oberlin
© Brad Feinknopf

Rather than use a traditional air conditioning system that circulates hot or cold air to regulate the ambient air temperature, the hotel utilizes a radiant heating and cooling system.

It is the first hotel in the country to utilize this passive system, which relies on surface temperatures within the building to heat and cool interior spaces.

Each guest room contains a radiant ceiling panel and a ceiling fan, which helps increase the cooling performance of the system by moving air across the panel.

Hotel At Oberlin
© Brad Feinknopf
Hotel At Oberlin
Hotel At Oberlin
© Brad Feinknopf

The radiant heating and cooling system is supported by a geothermal field composed of 48 405-foot- deep wells. Photovoltaic panels supplement power production for the hotel.

Oberlin’s on-campus ten-acre, 2.27-megawatt solar array can generate approximately three million kilowatts of electricity annually.

Hotel At Oberlin
© Brad Feinknopf
Hotel At Oberlin
© Brad Feinknopf

Rainwater is harvested and used for landscape irrigation, while on-site bio-retention basins slowly filter storm water. A high-performance facade and exterior automatic solar shading devices reduce heat gain.

The interior design for the project uses natural, salvaged, or recycled materials and sourced 50% of building materials from within 500 miles from Oberlin.

Hotel At Oberlin
© Brad Feinknopf
Hotel At Oberlin
© Brad Feinknopf

Whenever possible, materials with low volatile organic compounds (VOC) were specified to minimize off-gassing and improve interior air quality.

As part of the Green Arts District, art was obviously to play a major role in the project’s design. Ohio native Maya Lin, designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., created a three-part installation called “An Ecological Primer: A Landscape in 3 Parts” that spans the hotel’s lobby and grounds.

Hotel At Oberlin
© Brad Feinknopf
Hotel At Oberlin
© Brad Feinknopf

The Hotel at Oberlin takes a proactive approach to educating guests on how they can impact building performance and participate in conservation measures. Guest rooms are fitted with indicator lights that show when outdoor conditions are suitable for opening the windows.

When the windows are open, sensors automatically shut off the radiant panels and ventilation system. Educational signage and an information kiosk that displays energy consumption data are presented in an easy-to-understand manner, making sustainability education part of the guest experience.

Hotel At Oberlin
© Brad Feinknopf


Hotel At Oberlin
Ground Floor - Second Floor
Hotel At Oberlin
Third Floor - Fourth Floor


Hotel At Oberlin
Section 01
Hotel At Oberlin
Section 02


Hotel At Oberlin
Site Plan
Hotel At Oberlin
Vicinity Plan


Hotel At Oberlin
Sustainability Diagram

Solomon Cordwell Buenz
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Solomon Cordwell Buenz
625 N Michigan Ave #800, Chicago, IL 60611, United States