Carbide & Carbon Building

Identification

Map

Structure in general

Usage

Facts

• The base is covered in black polished granite, and the tower is a dark green terra cotta accented with gold terra cotta.
• According to legend the building was designed to resemble a dark green champagne bottle.
• Originally built as an office tower, the building opened as a boutique hotel in 2004.
• Because of this building's success, its architects were commissioned to design the Cuneo Building two blocks away, which would have been the tallest in Chicago if the Great Depression had not resulted in the project's cancellation.
• The color scheme is similar to The Bryant Park Hotel with its dark facade and gold highlights.
• The ground floor was originally designed to display products of the Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation's subsidiaries whose offices were in the building.
• The retail space on the north side has been converted into the hotel's main lobby, and the old lobby on Michigan Avenue has been preserved as the hotel's elevator lobby.
• The floor of the Michigan Avenue lobby is Front-90th Front West Houston Street marble with a border of black Belgium marble.