Architecture firm HKS has overhauled a 120-year-old steam plant and a brutalist office building, creating a headquarters for a medical company and aiming to revive an ageing downtown district in the American Rust Belt.

The ProMedica Headquarters is located in the heart of downtown Toledo, a city in northwest Ohio. The project involved the adaptive reuse and expansion of a landmarked steam plant built in 1896, and designed by famed architect Daniel Burnham ? known for his tall buildings, urban masterplans, and his role as chief architect of the 1893 Chicago World?s Fair.
The project also entailed the overhaul of a brutalist concrete building dating to 1981 and the construction of a new parking garage. The campus is adjacent to a recently updated park that runs alongside the Maumee River.
"In a very dramatic and intentional way, the new ProMedica Headquarters campus, through materiality, articulation, and dynamic public and landscaped spaces, integrates both existing and new buildings of varied architectural character, programmatic function and historical relevance," said HKS, a US-based firm with offices around the globe. "The campus represents an architectural timeline of the development of the Toledo waterfront."

ProMedica, a nonprofit healthcare company, formerly had offices scattered around the city and sought to unite its employees under one roof. Deciding to situate its headquarters in the downtown district was a bold move. Like many American cit...