A hospitality-focused lobby brings comfort, warmth, and openness to the AON Center, a mid-century modern Chicago architectural icon.

The redesign of the commercial office lobby pays homage to the original International Style architecture. As a space with multiple lobbies and pathways, the flooring works with other design details to maintain cohesion in light and space.

“The design of the terrazzo is not flashy or over the top. It is intended to be beautiful and timeless, to honor the iconic nature of the building,” says Shawn Fawell, AIA, who managed the project for the Chicago office of Gensler, a global architecture and design firm.

The contractor worked creatively to render interesting patterns in the terrazzo and to cut the terrazzo build time in half, by keeping the existing floor grid, rather tearing up the original floor and starting from scratch.