Chicago Amoco Building Marble Failure

Originally known as the standard oil building then the amoco building and most recently known as the aon center this 346 metre 83 storey office tower.

Chicago amoco building marble failure.

Aon center in chicago image by j. Why do some marble facades bow and warp. With 83 floors and a height of 1 136 feet 346 m it is the fourth tallest building in. Crocker via wikimedia commons.

Fortified by a tubular steel frame and originally clad with 44 000 panels of 1 1 4 inch thick white italian carrara marble the skyscraper was a structural feat setting the record for the world s tallest marble clad building. Natural stone has been used for facade applications for centuries. This was the most challenging job i have ever been on. The building was rechristened the amoco building when standard oil changed its name in 1985.

Several prominent buildings have suffered from the problem of marble facade failure including the amoco building in chicago the finlandia city hall in helsinki la grande arch and scor tower in paris and the ibm tower in brussels. Completed in 1973 the eighty three story amoco building is a dominant feature of chicago s skyline. Amoco sold the building to the blackstone group in 1998 in what was believed to be a 440m deal. We removed 43000 pieces of marble and installed 46300 pieced of granite.

Constructed as the headquarters for standard oil of indiana in 1974 the building changed names along with the company in 1985 to become. The aon center 200 east randolph street formerly amoco building is a modern supertall skyscraper just east of the chicago loop chicago illinois united states designed by architect firms edward durell stone and the perkins and will partnership and completed in 1974 as the standard oil building. Today we will look at five notable structures that had to replace their original marble cladding. Façade failure due to thermal hysteresis the failure of the amoco building in chicago serves as arguably the most infamous example of thermal hysteresis.

The 80 story amoco building at 1 136 feet the fourth tallest building in the world and an integral part of the chicago skyline cost less than 120 million to erect only 15 years ago. Experts hasten to note that there is nothing wrong with all carrara marble.