Public Hotel
Chicago, Illinois

When Ian Schrager purchased the storied, yet dated, Ambassador East Hotel on Chicago’s Gold Caost, he commissioned Gabellini Sheppard Associates to redesign the public areas, including the main lobby, library (with bar and cafe), and the legendary Pump Room and Pump Room Bar, the haunt of luminaries including Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, and many others.

The Gabellini Sheppard concept relies on an understated color palette, modern furnishings, and dramatic lighting to highlight the newly restored classical details (in the lobby and library), while imparting a contemporary lifestyle overlay to all public amenity spaces.