St. Regis Chicago

2022

Jan 3

WHO

Architects: Studio Gang
Installer: AGW

  
WHERE & WHEN

Chicago, IL

Americas

Completed · 2022

WHAT & HOW

Hospitality · New Build
10-story glass cube podium
Exterior VS1 exoskeleton, 12.75" mullions

In August 2016 construction began on The St. Regis Chicago. The 1,200-foot, 95-story tower will be the third tallest in Chicago. It will contain nearly 400 condos, a 250-room five-star hotel, extensive retail space, and many amenities. The iconic addition to the Chicago skyline will appear as three separate towers, and features a tessellating design inspired by the mineral fluorite.

At the base of the tower, a 10-story glass cube protrudes from the structure. The cube will house an atrium, restaurants, and hotel rooms. A unique exoskeletal frustum geometry is achieved by the use of a two-way VS1 jumbo mullion structure with internal star nodes. VS1 was selected for this feature wall after a two year international technical search for a solution.

The VS1 system clear spans 42 feet between the 2nd and 5th floor creating a dramatic space for a new restaurant. The system runs floor-to-floor from levels 5 to 10 creating unobstructed glass walls for the hotel rooms with no metal on the room interiors.

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IN THE PRESS ARCHITECTURAL RECORD

The central tower is suspended two floors above street level... The resulting opening on the ground functions as a street for both pedestrians and vehicles, linking Upper Wacker Drive to the north with East Waterside Drive to the south and providing sheltered access to multiple public spaces in the hotel. Hovering above is a nine-story-high projecting glass box nicknamed “the Cube,” which cantilevers over the sidewalk, punctuating the north facade. It will house a restaurant... with ceilings up to 38½ feet high and views uptown, downtown, and along the river.