The rebirth of a "gem" by architect Albert Kahn. Photo Credit: Carol Long

BRONSON PROJECT RESTORES UPJOHN HEADQUARTERS BUILDING
TO HEALTH

Project Overview

Name: The Upjohn Headquarters Building
Location: Kalamazoo, Michigan
Project Type: Renovation
Square Footage: 48,000 sf
CSM Project Director: Curt Petersen
CSM Project Manager: Shannon Rice
Owner’s Representative: James Booden
Designer: Diekema Hamann
Project Architects: Jim Keefer
Completion Date: June 2008

After serving people in the healthcare industry for over 70 years, the legendary Upjohn headquarters building on Henrietta Street in downtown Kalamazoo is receiving a little TLC itself. A major renovation currently underway will give it new life as a part of the Bronson campus, allowing it to continue to serve the community for many years to come!

Built in the mid-1930s, the building was the original home of the Upjohn Company; the name was a prominent one in Kalamazoo. The Upjohn family was a fixture in the community, and played a large role in its development.

The building was designed by legendary architect Albert Kahn, a close personal friend of Henry Ford. Kahn’s firm designed all of Ford’s offices, and more than likely many of the company’s factories, as well.

Over the years, business mergers and changes caused the building to be owned by Pharmacia, then Pfizer, who in 2005 donated it to Bronson. The building’s renovation into administrative offices is expected to be completed in summer 2008.

All systems (must) go!

Dormant for several years, the building was sound structurally but had an infrastructure that was not in functional condition. All new systems had to be installed, including mechanical, electrical, sewer, gas, and more. And none of that work could begin until asbestos abatement effort was completed.

Putting these new systems in place was no small challenge, given the structure’s age. To incorporate fiber optics and other elements of today’s critical systems, behind-the-wall channels had to be enlarged. Floor-toceiling notches had to be cut in some plaster walls in order to replace old utility service or to extend it to areas where it hadn’t previously been. The building’s elevator also needed replacement.

Architect Jim Keefer from Diekema Hamann acknowledges the challenges involved in renovating an historic structure, but feels they are worth it.

“It’s not always easy to make contemporary parts fit into a specific space, but it’s great to see a building like this being used again. I think the restoration of the main entrance lobby and stairway will have a dramatic impact,” Keefer said.

Back again, like never before.

The restored Upjohn headquarters building will be a welcome sight to all in the Kalamazoo area. Its new usefulness and vitality will come in a warmly familiar package.

“It’s a community landmark,” said Jim Booden, Bronson Construction Manager. “We went in with the goal of keeping everything we possibly could.”

The original Upjohn lettering will continue to grace a dominant exterior wall and key internal design elements will reflect the building’s original aesthetics.

Sondra Phillips, owner of SKP Design, calls the building a “gem” and says that a rare find in the archives helped make this level of authenticity possible.

“We were able to find actual interior photographs from the ’30s that show the building’s inside details and fixtures. So we were able to tell which things were original, and which were added later,” she said. “That doesn’t happen often.”

Shannon Rice, Project Manager for CSM Group, the Construction Manager on the project, feels a sense of satisfaction at having reclaimed an historic structure that was at one time slated for demolition.

“It will be great to pass by here in 30 or 50 years and see this still beautiful and functioning, considering what could have happened,” Rice says.