Commune Design completed the concept and interior design for Ace Hotel located in the Fulton Market section of Chicago. Scope included 180 guest rooms, reception, lobby lounge, indoor and outdoor restaurant, event spaces and rooftop lounge. Concept tapped into the city’s rich modernist architectural history, the work of Mies van de Rohe and the Bauhaus in Chicago.

For the design, Ace partnered with Los Angeles based design studio Commune to bring to life a vision that pays homage to the city of Chicago by marrying mid-western craftsmanship with utilitarian design. Simple, straightforward and thoughtfully detailed materials evoke Mies Van Der Rohe’s work at the Illinois Institute of Technology and simple coloration, hand-woven textiles, natural leather, wools, and linens were used to add a layer of warmth and texture to the clean lines.

Each of the rooms are complemented by a unique piece of art on Ace Hotel Chicago letterhead stationary – each carefully stippled, painted or hand-drawn by a student of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a project curated by SAIC painting professor Dan Devening. Built-in plywood and linoleum furnishings juxtaposed with the polished steel are nods to the designs of Arne Jacobsen and Richard Neutra.