Dearborn Tower

State Street Development Corporation
320 Units, 17 Stories
Chicago, IL

Formerly a giant industrial freezer for Beatrice Foods, the re-vamped 17-story building features 30 units per floor on eight of the original floors, two floors of commercial offices and restaurants and additional residences added to the top of the tower to increase the density to 320 units. The massive base remaining from the original Beatrice cold storage warehouse has been stripped of its cladding, exposing the concrete frame with a recessed terrace window wall. The seven-floor addition sets back and articulates the façade with a smaller, lighter grid. Outdoor space along the north façade is made to feel less compressed and given more exposure to sunlight by the convex façade. The south side of the building provides long linear balconies that double as sun shading devices in the summer.