From Studio Gang’s triple-tower St Regis skyscraper to one of the last projects designed by iconic architect Helmut Jahn, we’ve rounded up nine skyscrapers completed in Chicago in the last decade.
Below, we’ve outlined some of the most significant skyscrapers to be built in the lake-side city since 2015. The projects were created by a variety of studios – some Chicago-based and others international. Goettsch Partners is heavily represented, with four structures that all made it into the city’s top 20 tallest.
Chicago is the home of the first skyscraper and holds some of the most iconic tall buildings in the world, from the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Towers) to the corncob-shaped Marina City building, which was the tallest residential structure in the world in the 1960s when it was built.
Its skyscraper culture has also been exported. Studios like SOM have had hands in building skyscrapers around the world, breaking records from Chicago to Dubai.
Read on for nine recently completed skyscrapers in the city of Chicago.
1000M by Jahn, 2024
One of the last projects designed by German-American architect Helmut Jahn, this 788-foot-tall skyscraper (223 metres) is located in Chicago’s Michigan Avenue Historic District.
The building’s podium is more rectilinear with darkly coloured aluminium panels to fit in with the historic buildings on the street, while the top features curved sides clad in glass curtain walls to conform to the modern skyline.
Find out more about 1000M here ›
Salesforce Tower by Pelli Clarke & Partners, 2o23
Located at the confluence of rivers in the city’s core, the 852-foot-tall (259 metres) Salesforce Tower was the final development in the four-acre Wolf Point development, which includes two other, smaller towers and a park.
The structure has a thin profile to conform to the site and has distinct vertical segments that make it appear as though it’s made of several smaller planes.
Find out more about Salesforce Tower ›
The Row by Morris Adjmi Architects, 2023
This 480-foot-tall (146-metre) building in Chicago’s Fulton Market District was modelled on the quadrilinear skyscrapers with darkly coloured steel made popular by German-American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who designed several iconic mid-century skyscrapers for Chicago.
It has a structural system made of reinforced concrete with post-tension slabs and has a wide five-storey podium at its base to hold retail for the growing district.
Find out more about The Row ›
BMO Tower by Goettsch Partners, 2022
This 727-foot-tall skyscraper was created in Chicago’s West Loop neighbourhood as a headquarters for BMO Bank.
It has a stepped form with terraces at each of the three major setbacks and V-shaped structural columns of polished steel at its base. It is part of a larger redevelopment that includes the historic Chicago Union Station.
One Chicago East Tower by Goettsch Partners, 2o22
At 973 feet tall (296 metres), the east tower of One Chicago is the eighth tallest building in the city and includes a stepped form with distinct vertical sections.
Located in Chicago’s River North district, it holds luxury residential as well as offices spread over 77 storeys.
Bank of America Tower by Goettsch Partners, 2022
Located between draw bridges, this 817-foot-tall (249 m) stepped office tower was placed on a narrow strip between the river and a road that runs alongside it.
In order to account for the slender site, the structure was given an “unusual stepped center core” according to the studio as well as a cantilever supported by columns attached to foundations at the river’s edge.
St Regis Chicago by Studio Gang, 2020
The second skyscraper completed by the Studio Gang in the city, St Regis Chicago (once known as Vista Tower) features three connected towers that descend in height as they move towards the lakefront. At 1,198 feet tall (365 metres), it is the third tallest structure in the city.
Its glass facade features a blue gradient to modulate the sun, and it has a vertical gap at the ground of the central tower that allows for pedestrians to pass under the structure.
NEMA by Rafael Viñoly Architects, 2019
Designed by the studio of Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly, at 896 feet tall (273 metres) NEMA is the 10th tallest building in Chicago and the tallest in the city’s South Loop neighbourhood.
According to the studio, the skyscraper has a stepped form meant to emulate that of Willis Tower so that the two structures could “bookend” the skyline.
150 North Riverside by Goettsch Partners, 2017
Another skyscraper with a narrow base due to being wedged between a road and the river, 150 North Riverside is a 752-foot-tall (229 metres) skyscraper.
To account for the site, which is also boxed in by active train tracks, the 54-storey skyscraper has a height-to-base ration of 20:1, and the base appears as an inverted pyramid.
Find out more about 150 North Riverside here ›
