-
Architects: The Miller Hull Partnership
- Area: 35000 m²
- Year: 2006
-
Photographs:Nic Lehoux
Text description provided by the architects. Located within the emerging River North district in downtown Chicago, goals for this newbuilding were to blend with adjacent brick and stone loft-type structures and reflect the lively urban lifestyle of the formerly industrial neighborhood.
The project aesthetic is firmly embedded in the steel and glass style of the city’s Illinois Institute of Technology. The eight-story building is organized like an irreducible living machine: stripped bare, rational and waiting to be inhabited. Balconies projecting beyond the building provide down street views. These outdoor rooms function as surrogate living rooms and enable natural ventilation in each unit. Steel grating gives privacy, while allowing for more daylight and filtered views. Steel cross bracing carrying lateral loads and sub-frame carrying gravity loads provides an armature for the balconies while lending scale and identity to the building.
A cost-conscious project, the steel structure omitted the need for lay-down space which provided a more efficient construction process. Also conforming to the budget and ease of maintenance is the basic material palette of an anti-graffiti CMU podium with metal framing above. Expressed structure, metal slat screen walls, commercial storefront windows and an open plan characterize the experience of the building which exemplifies the creative possibilities of urban infill.
