International Architecture Awards Tell a friend

Architects: Goettsch Partners & Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture
Lead Architects: James Goettsch & Jim Plunkard
General Contractor: Power Construction
Client: JDL Development
Photographers: Nick Ulivieri Photography: Renae Lillie, Ian Jolipa, JDL Development

Located on a full-block site in Chicago’s River North area, One Chicago is a luxury mixed-use development that features two residential towers and a shared podium building. The project totals approximately 2,200,000 square feet and includes 812 residential units, 55,000 square feet of office space, parking, and 188,000 square feet of retail, featuring a flagship Whole Foods Market, a premier Life Time fitness and wellness center, a restaurant, and a large roof garden on top of the podium.

The 76-story main tower anchors the development’s southeast corner at State and Superior streets and will contain 276 apartments and 77 condominiums. Set back approximately 45 feet along its eastern side, the tower design creates a new urban park that provides a buffer from street activity as well as a sanctuary and amenity for residents, patrons, and the public, including visitors to Holy Name Cathedral across State Street. The tower is composed of five vertical, rectilinear bars that drop off at varying heights as the program mix changes.

The setbacks allow for multiple large terraces and create a more slender form as the tower rises. Expressive fins varying in width reinforce the verticality of the building, giving the façades a distinct texture. At the tower base, the residential lobby, amenity spaces, and a large terrace open up to the urban park. The second tower, 49 stories tall and containing 459 apartments, anchors the northwest corner of the development at Chicago and Dearborn streets. Similar to the main tower, the building features roof terraces formed by the tower setbacks that provide private outdoor living spaces for residents.

The podium is wrapped with activated functions, including 68 apartments, as well as the Whole Foods Market, Life Time fitness center, office space, event spaces, and a restaurant. Private residential amenities on the 10th floor extend out onto the upper podium roof deck, which provides an unusually large outdoor amenity in the heart of the city and overlooks the expansive series of pool decks offered by the fitness and wellness center. To bring circulation off the street and support logistics for the various building functions, all traffic, services, and parking for the development are enclosed and controlled within the podium via a covered auto court, a truck turntable on the ground-floor loading dock, and basement loading areas.