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Formerly: The Fordham Spire
Built:
2007- 2012
Designed by: Santiago Calatrava
Type: Skyscraper
Stories: 150
Maximum height: 2,000 feet / 610 meters
Maximum depth: 80 feet
Location: 400 North Lake Shore Drive
City: Chicago
State: Illinois
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T
he city where the skyscraper was born just can't get enough of these supertowers. The Chicago Spire is the latest in a series of super-tall projects proposed and erected since the mid 1990's. Some, like the Trump International Hotel and Tower, come to fruition. Others, like 7 South Dearborn, do not. The opposition from NIMBY residents in Streeterville and scoffs from other parts of the city have mostly been quieted now that construction is well underway and proceeding swiftly.
This is the first Chicago project for Spanish architectural superstar Santiago Calatrava, though he has graced the shores of Lake Michigan before with the Milwaukee Art Museum's Quadracci Pavilion. Its position at the point where the Chicago River drains Lake Michigan puts it in the center of the city's skyline, and out in front of any of the thousands of photographs taken by tourists cruising the lake each day.
In its original form, this building lived up to its name. It was truly is a spire with a tapering form topped by a needle. The final design eliminated the needle piercing the sky and developed a more blunted, but still graceful, form. In a New York Times article about the building, it was compared to a drill bit, a blade of grass, and a tall twisting tree. Others have compared it to a lighthouse, which could end up being its nickname because of its location. The inability to quickly categorize the construction is what you come to expect from a Calatrava design -- something both geometric and organic. Something that take a simple form and twists it in the wind like so many of his other bridges and buildings. In this case, each of the building's floors are anchored to a central column, but offset. Then each floor is rotated slightly as the tower rises higher. The result is, indeed, something very much like a drill bit. The original plan called for the bottom 20 floors to be occupied by a hotel, while the rest of the building was to be filled with 1,200 luxury condominiums. The final configuration has this building entirely residential. Much to the disappointment of tourists and skyscraper fans, there are no plans for a public observation deck.
The biggest obstacle to completing this building was zoning. The parcel of land selected was only zoned for as 540-foot tall building and a 350-foot tall building. However, the developer managed to assuage the city, neighborhood groups, and local open space activists by developing a riverfront plaza with six stories of parking underneath. The developer is also going to put up $9 million to help create DuSable Park. The City of Chicago has wanted to create that park on a neighboring piece of disused industrial land for decades, but could never come up with the money. The developer will use the future parkland during construction, and then afterward turn it over to the city with the cash that will help it become public space.
**Designed by: Santiago Calatrava, who is also the lead architect and engineer on the project.
**Architect of record is Perkins + Will.
**Developer: Shelbourne Development Group
**The structural engineer of record is Thornton Tomasetti.
**This building was originally commissioned by the Fordham Company.
**The building is designed to be made primarily out of concrete.
**The twisting exterior is designed to deflect wind.
**The building is designed with two emergency stairwells, in response to the 9/11 attacks in New York.
**The spire rests on 34 caissons drilled into the bedrock 110 feet underground. 20 caissons support the middle of the structure while 14 are arranged in a ring around the perimeter.
**This plot of land was originally zoned for two towers: one 35 stories, and one 55 stories tall. Because of its height the Spire's density is less than the original zoning. It also appeals to bird rescue groups which say the single, taller, tower will have less of an impact on bird migration than two wider towers.
**The spire was originally planned with 250 hotel condominiums. This was reduced to 150 in order to reduce the impact on traffic in the area. The hotel was eventually removed from the plan in late 2006.
**The spire is expected to have up to 1,193 residences.
**The building's penthouse will be two-stories tall and have 10,293 square feet of space.
**The spire's penthouse will be the world's highest residence.
**Access to the tower will be from Lower Lake Shore Drive to reduce the impact on traffic in the neighborhood.
**Excluding hotel traffic, the tower is expected to add one car per minute to the local traffic pattern.
**As part of the development, riverwalks will be extended along the Chicago River and Ogden Slip. The developer plans to spend $500,000 on improving DuSable park.
**Within three months of its announcement, 800 people had contacted the developer wanting to buy condominiums in the building.
**A parking garage will be constructed to the building's north and will connect directly with Lake Shore Drive to reduce street level traffic congestion.
**Plans for townhouses to line the base of this building were scrapped in favor of a circular plaza and five-story glass atrium.
**The lobby atrium will have a ceiling 53-feet high.
**There is no sky lobby -- 14 passenger elevators connect directly from the main lobby to the residential floors.
**This property formerly had the address 410-450 North Lake Shore Drive.
**This property formerly had the address 420 East North Water Street.
**The cost of the project is unknown. It was originally estimated at $2,400,000,000.00, however in May 2008 a representative of the developer said that figure is inaccurate. However, she refused to provide a corrected number to the Chicago Tribune.
**There are structural transition floors every 30 to 40 stories to transfer stress to the core and help keep the building rigid.
**In an unusual move the parking garage is being built from the top down instead of from the bottom up. This will help speed construction of the tower.
**At the time of its completion, this building will be the world's tallest all-residential building.
**At the time of its completion, this building will have the world's highest occupied floor; even higher than the highest occupied floor in Dubai's Burj Dubai, which will retain the overall title of world's tallest building.
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