The thick concrete panels of the old warehouse were ripped away and replaced with windows, creating an open, very light-driven, contemporary structure like sitting in a terminal at O’Hare Airport. The building was also equipped with an overhang protecting the glass walls from emitting too much light in the wrong areas. The orientation of the building takes advantage of morning sunlight. “I don’t really consider it a loss. We feel that considering this is the first Gold Certified Police building in the country, and that there were no renewable technology added to the building, we did very well.”

RTKL, an international architecture, engineering, and planning firm, has relocated their Chicago office to the Borg-Warner building. RTKL’s is seeking LEED®-CI Silver certification with the usual interiors emphasis on high-efficiency lighting and green materials in their architectural studio space.

Location
353 N. Clark, Chicago, IL 60654  Map
Developer
Mesirow Financial
Architect
Lohan Anderson (Design)
Epstein (Architect of Record)
353 N. Clark is a new 45-story, 1.1 million sf speculative office tower anchored by Mesirow Financial and law firm Jenner & Block. The project is LEED® for Core and Shell precertified for Silver certification. As I’ve indicated before, I expect that most [...]

Location
233 N. Michigan, Chicago, IL 60601  Map
Owner
Hannah’s Bretzel
Architect
UrbanLab
Photo courtesy Michelle Litvin
Hannah’s Bretzel, the outrageously popular organic lunch spot, has opened a second location in the Illinois Center (don’t confuse this with the State of IL building, aka Thompson Center). This time, the 1,750 sf space is organic as well, seeking LEED® for Commercial Interiors certification. [...]

Location
2652 W. Walton, Chicago, IL 60622  Map
Owner
Grun Development
Architect
Kasia Hochberg
This is a series of three prototypical single-family homes at 2652, 2656, and 2658 W. Walton St. Each home is two stories with a basement, is approximately 4,000 sf, and is Energy Star rated. The project very much focuses on the fundamentals of energy conservation, while throwing [...]