UIC provides hope for another Chicago tower crane

Posted on July 23, 2021 by danieldschell

Does this humble parking lot hold the key to Chicago’s next tower crane?

I That humble parking lot is at 900 West Taylor Street in University Village. The University of Illinois at Chicago broke ground here July 15 on its 135,000-square-foot Computer Design Research and Learning Center. That’s big news for the school, its students, and the faculty.

It may also come in handy for Chicago’s tower crane counters. Since this is UIC’s project, it’s under the authority of the State of Illinois, not the City of Chicago. So permits won’t show up on the City Building Permits site I check every Tuesday thru Saturday once the coffee has kicked in. But I’m not gonna let this one get by me, like the UI Health tower crane did. And like the Harrison Hall crane would have if it hadn’t been bright yellow and right up against the Eisenhower Expressway. I have questions out all over town asking if this project will require a tower crane. Answers soon, I hope.

LMN Architects and Booth Hansen handled the architecture on the UIC CDRLC. W.E. O’Neil would appear to be the general contractor, based on their LinkedIn post about the groundbreaking. It’s the only reason I know about this development. So a shout-out to them for the heads-up.

Lots of fantastic renderings from the groundbreaking announcement linked above:

Stuff That’s Done: The Woodlawn Residential and Dining Commons at the University of Chicago

Posted on April 8, 2021 by danieldschell

The new Woodlawn Residential and Dining Commons is open on the University of Chicago campus. The Commons is a joint development between the University and Capstone Development Partners. It was designed by Boston’s Elkus Manfredi Architects, and was built by Turner Construction. The 16- and 7-story buildings contain almost 900 rooms and 1,300 beds.

The Woodlawn Residential and Dining Commons at the University of Chicago April 2021

Stuff That’s Done: The David M. Rubenstein Forum at the University of Chicago

Posted on March 30, 2021 by danieldschell

14 months ago, I called this the most unique construction project in the city. No one told me I was wrong.

The David M. Rubenstein Forum on the University of Chicago campus is done and open and really darn cool.

Congrats to the whole team on this one: The University of Chicago; architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro out of NYC and Chicago’s own Brininstool + Lynch, and general contractor Turner Construction.

The David M. Rubenstein Forum, March 2021

University of Chicago getting Woodlawn Residential and Dining Commons ready for 2020-21

Posted on February 5, 2020 by danieldschell

Is this rendering from U of C, the Woodlawn Commons is to the left.

A 16-story tower and a zig-zagging maze of a 7-story building comprise the new Woodlawn Residential and Dining Commons. It will include, as you may have guessed, housing and dining facilities for University of Chicago students, as well as amenities and outdoor spaces.

The Woodlawn Commons is a joint development between the University and Capstone Development Partners. It is being built by Turner Construction, as is the David M. Rubenstein Forum going up one block east.

The design is by Boston’s Elkus Manfredi Architects. The firm’s CEO and founding Partner David Manfredi earned his masters degree here at U of C.

Here’s some uchicago news you can use to learn more (lots more) about Woodlawn Commons. The University expects to have it open for the 2020-2021 school year.

Checking out U. of C.’s David M. Rubenstein Forum in Woodlawn (corrected)

Posted on February 4, 2020 by danieldschell

We have a winner for Most Unique Construction Project in Chicago right now.

The David M. Rubenstein Forum is being built by the University of Chicago on its Hyde Park campus. **Most of the campus may be in Hyde Park, but this particular project is south of the Midway Plaisance, placing it in the Woodlawn neighborhood. Sorry, my mistake.** It’s part Jenga tower, part shipping container park. There’s a lot of concrete, a ton of glass, and when it’s finished, it will have lots of ways for U of C students to utilize it.

The school describes it, in part, this way:

The ground floor includes the main lobby and a restaurant, with stairs leading to the building’s largest multipurpose event space, capable of accommodating groups up to 600. Immediately above the base is a 285-seat auditorium. The top floor of the tower features a flat-floor multipurpose space, which can accommodate meetings of 75 and other events.

The Rubenstein Forum is a collaboration between design architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro out of NYC, and Chicago’s own Brininstool + Lynch. On the build is Turner Construction. I’m grateful to them for the Facebook photo of the tower cranes included in the photo gallery. (The bird joke is theirs, not mine.) I didn’t get down to Hyde Park when they were still in the air.

If you click on all those links I’ve provided above, not only will you find everything you need to know about the Rubenstein Forum, but you’ll also see a ton of great renderings, plus some stellar drone footage.

: Turner Construction tower cranes.

Stuff That’s Done: Harrison Hall at UIC

Posted on January 21, 2020 by danieldschell

Harrison Hall, on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

While this blog was taking intermittent breaks over the past couple years, Chicago construction has gone on without us. The nerve, right? Many of the projects I started covering from their outset have wrapped up, and though there may be too many to get to, this is my attempt to show you some or those final results. I couldn’t think of a fancier title to use. Stuff That’s Done will have to suffice for now. This is the first of what may or may not be a series.

I wandered past Harrison Hall on the UIC campus this week. Cool piece of architecture. I last checked on it in June 2018. It was designed by SCB and built by Pepper Construction.

**NOTE** Stuff That’s Done may sometimes refer to projects that aren’t completely “done,” but are open.

Harrison Hall glasses up the joint at UIC

Posted on June 18, 2018 by danieldschell

Pepper Construction works on both the north-facing and south-facing facades of Harrison Hall at UIC.

Chalk up another milestone for Pepper Construction at UIC, where they’ve started putting windows on Harrison Hall. (This is neither the time nor place to argue that a university’s academic hall should be using Macs instead of installing Windows)

I don’t know why I didn’t make a “glass is in session” pun in the headline for this, but I more than made up for it with the Windows thing, dontcha think?

Anyway, topping out the concrete in late April and removing the tower crane last month are two other recent achievements Pepper can be proud of at Harrison Hall. Of course, the one that counts the most will be having the 151,000-square-foot, SCB-designed facility open for UIC students in the fall.

GEMS World Academy Upper School gets permission to complete its latest assignment

Posted on June 14, 2018 by danieldschell

With a permit issued Wednesday, the GEMS World Academy Upper School has official permission to complete its 13-story building in Lakeshore East. That allows Power Construction to continue their progress on the bKL Architecture-designed facility. Students are expected to start using the Upper School in Winter 2019.

You can watch progress for yourself by following this link to the youtube construction cam; the cam is also accessible from bKL Archtecture’s GEMS World Academy Upper School page linked above.

: bKL Architecture renderings.

: bKL Architecture rendering.

: The Full-Build Permit.

: GEMS World Academy, the original.

Progress Update: Columbia College Student Center

Posted on June 13, 2018 by danieldschell

It’s time to check in with Pepper Construction on their progress in the South Loop. That’s where they’re erecting the Gensler-designed Columbia College Student Center at 8th Street and Wabash Avenue. The 114,000-square-foot facility is slated for opening in 2019.

UIC’s Harrison Hall clads without glass

Posted on June 4, 2018 by danieldschell

That’s not glass on Harrison Hall, but we’re clad to see it anyway.

There’s no glass on UIC’s Harrison Hall yet, but swing by the site these days and you’ll notice the exterior getting a new outfit. Pepper Construction is cladding the outer layer, just not with windows. And most impressively, they’re doing it without the tower crane, which is down from the site already. Just one more surprisingly-fast step in progress on the new academic & residential center.