Book Tower

The 38-story Book Tower, originally designed by famed Detroit architect Louis Kamper, was the tallest building in Detroit (475 ft. tall) when it was completed in 1926.  After a quarter century of revolving owners and failed revitalization attempts, a local developer and a NYC architectural firm co-purchased the property in 2015 and embarked on a 7-year, $300 million restoration project.  Quaker, with a long history of window replication expertise, was the window solution for many reasons:

• Almost 2,500 of Quaker’s H-Series Single Hung windows and E300 Series Fixed windows were an integral part of the job.
• To help construction teams, units were supplied in staggered deliveries over a 9-month period.
• Because Book Tower stood 475 feet tall and boasted 38 stories, wind loads had to be addressed for the windows on higher elevations.  Quaker came through in 2 ways: ¼” glass panes within the insulated glass, double the standard thickness.  Quaker also supplied structural tubing for the twin and triple units to fend off strong Motor City gusts.
• Matching Book Tower’s Italian-Renaissance design required 6 custom dies to be designed and built. Quaker’s long-standing business partnership with our aluminum lineal supplier allowed us to expedite that process and keep the project moving.
• To meet historical sight-line requirements, Quaker factory-applied a custom muntin around the glass perimeter of nearly 1,600 fixed units.
• Because Michigan can offer extreme weather at times, the developers chose an upgraded 2605 paint finish, which provides additional durability in areas near water and/or where humidity is prevalent.

What was once a thriving office building in the roarin’ 1920s, has been restored to it’s original grandeur, and contains nearly 500,000 sq. ft. of apartments/lofts, luxury hotel rooms, meeting spaces, offices, event areas and dining locations.

Developer:  Bedrock Services and ODA Architecture

Architect:  ODA Architecture

Historic Consultant: Kraemer Design Group

Contractor:  Christman Company

Quaker Commercial Partner:  Blackberry Window & Door Systems