Washington Square

Horwitz & Company
28,000 s.f., 6 Stories
651 W. Washington St.
Chicago, Illinois

In its conversion to a first class office building, the eastern façade of the antiquated warehouse is entirely reconstructed. Translucent capitals crown over-scaled masonry columns on a field of blue-green glass as the building’s orientation shifts towards Chicago’s Loop. Directly adjacent, a three-level addition contains retail and parking. A translation of the original structure, its skin replicates perimeter rhythm and masonry as an arcade. The entry procession commences through a colonnade of stone and lighted glass block columns. Passing through the cross axis of a skylight galleria demarcating old and new, one ascends to the centralized lobby. The composition of masonry stone, terrazzo, brass and glass presents historical familiarity and yet enticing surprise.