We were commissioned by one of the largest developers in the country to design a concept for a 325,000-square-foot mixed-use high-rise, featuring their first branded luxury hotel and 200 residential units, along with street-level retail, workplace, and hospitality.

The design involves a comprehensive live–work–play program to advance Chicago’s burgeoning West Loop neighborhood—an emerging cultural focal point due to its heritage industrial architecture and human-scaled street experience. At the gateway to the city, West Loop is also a tech neighborhood, with Google, Facebook, and SoHo House among its successful inhabitants, fueling a millennial-inspired youth culture.

Our design responds to this generation, whose values are guided by an attraction to art, sustainability, and work–life balance. The proposal incorporates sustainable design components, including windmills and photovoltaics as well as harnessing energy from human power (from gym equipment), to ensure its future is zero-energy compatible.

We also sought to progress Chicago’s architectural skyline with a tower that rises dramatically to nearly 400 feet above grade. A sheer glass eastern façade literally reflects the spirit of the city, while an exposed concrete structure steps down towards the west, showing sensitivity to the scale and materiality of the neighborhood. Here, landscaped terraces provide a vital outdoor amenity for the building’s tenants.

We have ensured the architecture provides an efficient application of the program, with high-value private and shared spaces reflected in a design that is minimal, tectonic, and contextual.