The R.R Donnelley Printing Plant, sometimes known as the Calumet Plant or the Lakeside Plant and now known as the Lakeside Technology Center, was built between 1912 and 1929 to house the operations of the RR Donnelley printing company. In 1993, the plant was closed after the discontinuation by Sears, Roebuck and Co. of its mail-order catalog, which had been the last major account printed there. In 1999 the building was retrofitted and is currently owned by Digital Realty Trust operating as a

carrier hotel A colocation center (also spelled co-location, or colo) or "carrier hotel", is a type of data centre where equipment, space, and bandwidth are available for rental to retail customers. Colocation facilities provide space, power, cooling, and ...

and

data center A data center (American English) or data centre (British English)See spelling differences. is a building, a dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunic ...

. The newly outfitted building was the first and largest planned carrier hotel in the United States. The building was designed by Howard Van Doren Shaw to be a fireproof design of poured

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...

columns and an open-shell concrete floor. Although considered to be expensive by the standards of that time, T.E. Donnelley agreed that the support would be needed for the many tons of paper they used and large presses they operated. Supported by 4,675 steel- reinforced concrete columns, this type of construction not only served the Donnelley well, it also provided the perfect infrastructure for future tenants. To further the building's support structure, reinforcing bars, normally laid perpendicular, were laid at various angles enabling the floors to bear loads of at least 250 pounds per square foot. Current major tenants of the building include the

Chicago Mercantile Exchange The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) (often called "the Chicago Merc", or "the Merc") is a global derivatives marketplace based in Chicago and located at 20 S. Wacker Drive. The CME was founded in 1898 as the Chicago Butter and Egg Board, an a ...

, Telx, Equinix, Steadfast Networks and CenturyLink. Exterior ornaments depict symbols of printing history. Portions of the building, including the interior Memorial Library, were designed by architect

Charles Klauder Charles Zeller Klauder (February 9, 1872 – October 30, 1938) was an American architect best known for his work on university buildings and campus designs, especially his Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh, the first educat ...

. File:Calumet Plant R R Donnelly and Sons Company E Chicago IL.jpg, View from west File:Calumet Plant R R Donnelly and Sons Company A Chicago IL.jpg, Corner tower File:Calumet Plant R R Donnelly and Sons Company C Chicago IL.jpg, Base of tower File:Calumet Plant R R Donnelly and Sons Company D Chicago IL.jpg, Detail of piers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calumet Plant, R.R. Donnelley and Sons Co. Data centers Howard Van Doren Shaw buildings Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Chicago Chicago Landmarks RR Donnelley

See also

References