One Illinois Center
Architect: Goettsch Partners
Installer: Ventana
Location: Chicago, Illinois
This project involved the lobby renovation-upgrade using the direct glaze version of the VS1 system which eliminates the gap between the inside surface of the glass and the face of the mullion. There are various methods to hold the glass to the mullion for this configuration with the simplest being to apply a structural back seal between the glass and the mullion face. This is how 111 East Wacker was implemented.
Due to the wide mullion spacing of 10ft and to honor the original monolithic plate glass facade modulation a horizontal mullion of equal depth to the vertical mullions was incorporated into the facade solution. The 12 3/4” depth of the vertical mullion allows it to clear span 42ft without any secondary backer steel structure. The original curtain wall framing was steel which corroded over time. The VS1 replacement facade is aluminum and provided the owner with the higher quality finished appearance + the use of high performance insulating glass to significantly reduce the HVAC load on the ground floor level space.
The wall is ground based with lateral only facade anchors at the top of the wall preventing the impact of upper floor live load deflection onto the VS1 facade. Swing and revolving doors are accommodated.
This project also demonstrates the ability of the VS1 system to be successfully used for facades applied to existing construction to satisfy the renovation construction markets.
