CONTEMPORAINE
Perkins + Will
ARCHITECTS
Perkins + Will
LOCATION
Chicago, Illinois, USA
CATEGORY
Apartments
DESIGN PRINCIPLE
Ralph Johnson
PROJECT DESIGNER
Bryan Schabel
PROJECT ARCHITECT
Marius Ronnet
PROJECT MANAGER
Dave Gutierrez and Nicol Chervenak
ADDITIONAL TEAM MEMBERS
Curt Behnke, Cengiz Yetken, Nicolette Daly, Steve Santucci
TECHNICAL PRINCIPAL
Fereidoon Afshari
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
C.E. Anderson & Associates
CIVIL ENGINEERING
Terra Engineering
SPECIFICATIONS
Raymond Coleman
MECHANICAL DESIGN BUILD CONTRACTOR
AMS Mechanical Systems
MEP AND FIRE PROTECTION
McGuire Engineers
ELECTRICAL DESIGN BUILD CONTRACTOR
New Aspen Electric
PLUMBING DESIGN BUILD CONTRACTOR
C.J. Erikson Plumbing Co.
CLIENT OWNER
CMK Development Corporation
CONSTRUCTION MANAGER
McShane Construction
AREA
96000.0 ft2
FIRE PROT DESIGN BUILD CONTRACTOR
US Fire Protection Illinois, Inc.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Steinkamp / Ballogg Photography
Text description provided by architect.
Contemporaine is a 28-unit condominium building located on a corner lot in the River North area of urban Chicago.
The building consists of an eleven-story residential tower and a four-story retail and parking base.
The sculptural quality of the tower and the articulation of its functional parts work to mediate the building to the varying scales of the surrounding context.
The mass of the tower is broken down by a series of slots scored down the façade with small cantilevered balconies.
The east façade undulates to further break the mass as well as to provide more opportunities for views of the city skyline.
Two concrete shear walls and the plane of the roof frame the design and provide a distinctive profile from Wells Street.
To bring the base to a pedestrian scale the structure of the parking garage is exposed with floor-to-ceiling glass between the floor slabs, similar to the tower above.
On the north side of the building the dynamic expression of the sloped ramps leading to the upper parking levels adds relief and movement to the otherwise rectilinear structure.
At the entry corner the erosion of the mass, the projection of the cantilevered balconies above, and a 45-foot column, all reinforce the urban energy of the Contemporaine’s surroundings.
The top of the tower is sculpted to offer large terraces for the penthouse units and a gesture to the surrounding skyscrapers. Typical floors at Contemporaine provide up to four condominiums with two and three bedrooms plans that can be combined to allow for larger units.
Each unit has at least one private outdoor balcony. Unit sizes range from approximately 950 square feet to 2700 square feet. The condos offer open floor plans with large expanses of floor-to-ceiling glass allowing natural light and dynamic views of the downtown skyline.
Four penthouses on the top floors feature living spaces with 20 to 32-foot glass walls to further capture the daylight and the views.
The building stands out from most of its contemporaries in the city. Through simple manipulations of modern materials—the sculpted mass, dynamic resident entry, and the texture of the window mullions—the building makes a strong statement on the cityscape.
