Delivering Regeneration
With a footprint of more than 55 acres, the project helped kickstart area redevelopment as high-profile tenants, like Ferrara Candy Co., HomeChef, Walgreens, Cboe Global Markets and Uber, moved into the building. Tenants have access to a wide range of amenities, but the most sought-after is the 3.5-acre rooftop park. To give the sprawling park character, the team carved undulating hills across the roof using lightweight foam.
“Being on the rooftop feels like you’re in a different part of the city—one of the most beautiful spaces that you just never found before,” Rogow says. “It’s so seamless, it’s like the park simply grew in that spot.”
In addition to basketball courts and tennis courts, the park includes beehives, real trees and 40,000 different plant species supported by a new substructure with built-in irrigation. The building’s structural columns (initially designed to bear heavy equipment inside) carry the substructure’s load down to the building’s foundation, which is comprised of more than 300 individual caissons.
Rogow encountered a multitude of surprises working inside the monumental historic building. “This project made me much more flexible in the way I design,” she says. “You have to have a goal in mind but still recognize you’ll discover the unexpected along the way. I learned so much about construction from this era, and this incredible project gave me a new lens on Chicago’s history.”
Retrofit Team
OWNER: 601W Companies
ARCHITECT AND INTERIOR DESIGNER: Gensler Chicago
LEASING: Telos
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT: JLL
GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Bear Construction
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: WSP
MEP/FP ENGINEER: McGuire Engineers
PRESERVATION ARCHITECTS: McGuire Igleski & Associates Inc. and Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc.
HISTORIC ADVISOR: MacRostie Historic Advisors LLC
FAÇADE/FORENSICS CONSULTANT: Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc.
CIVIL ENGINEER: V3
LANDSCAPE: Hoerr Schaudt
MILLWORK: Navillus Woodworks and T.H. Snyder
FURNITURE SUPPLIER: Office Revolution
LIGHTING SUPPLIER: KSA Lighting & Controls
HISTORICALLY ACCURATE WINDOW INSTALLER: Auburn Windows
Materials
Metalwork: Chemetal and McNichols
Stonework: Indiana Limestone
Custom Postcard Wall (Landing): ER2 Image Group
Sconces (Leasing) and Pendant Fixtures (Leasing, Concierge): Roll & Hill
Bocce Court Pendant Fixture: Tech Lighting
Sconces: Rejuvenation
Pendant Fixtures: Spectrum Lighting
Light Fixtures: USAI Lighting
Escalator Panel: Terramai
Custom Signage: Archetype
Floor Tile (Concierge and Gym): Crossville
Panel Fabric (Library): Carnegie
Sofa (Leasing): A. Rudin
Side Tables: Arteriors
Chairs (Leasing) and Black Table (Library): RH
Custom Benches (Leasing) and Custom Communal Tables (Library): Kramer Design Studio
Rooftop Furniture: Vondom
Armchairs: Bernhardt Design
Green Chairs: GUBI
Stools (Bar): Andreu World
Rugs (Concierge, Library): Oscar Isberian Rugs
Carpet: Milliken
Wallcoverings: Architex, Designtex, FilzFelt, Innovations, Maharam, Tiger Leather and Wolf-Gordon
Laminates: Abet Laminati, Formica and Laminart
Solid Surfacing: Diresco, DuPont, HanStone, Terrazzo & Marble Supply, and Wilsonart
Flooring: ecore, Pantim Wood Products and Pliteq
Ceilings and Acoustical Surfaces: Armstrong Ceiling & Wall Solutions and International Cellulose Corp.
Vintage Accessories: State Street Salvage Chicago
2,400 Historically Accurate Windows: Fabricated with Solarban 60 Solar-control, Low-e Glass from Vitro Architectural Glass by Wausau Window and Wall Systems
Paints: Armourcoat, Benjamin Moore, PPG Paints and Sherwin-Williams