Chicago, Illinois, USA

Chicago’s long-vacant and decaying, nearly century-old postal facility has been transformed and meticulously restored into vibrant new hub for business and commerce by Gensler and Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates together with preservation consultants McGuire Igleski & Associates.

Construction crews alone spent the past 12 months removing 23 million pounds of debris from the building — 90% of it was recycled — in what is now the largest adaptive- reuse project in the U.S.

Now called The Old Post Office, the $900 million restoration by 601W Companies has given the building a new life. The 250,000-sf floor plates allow for sweeping views to natural light, strategically placed infrastructure, and vertical transportation. World-class amenities will support an estimated 12,000 tenants.

Originally designed by Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, the post office is a one-of-a-kind building in the historic context of Chicago. Originally completed in 1921, it underwent a monumental expansion in 1932 to meet the city’s unprecedented postal needs. The meteoric rise of the mail-order industry, spearheaded by the Chicago-based Montgomery Ward and Sears catalogs, turned Chicago into the distribution center of the nation nearly overnight.

Through historically minded restoration and repositioning, Gensler created highly detailed documentation of existing equipment related to scales, mail chutes, conveyors, historic corridors, original mosaic tile floors, and plaster ceilings. Selections of these various elements were retained throughout the building to recall a bygone era. The building’s façade was restored, including the replacement of some 2,200 windows with new glazing; their old steel framing replaced with aluminum.

Working with the Evanston firm of McGuire Igleski & Associates, the Gensler team restored the dazzling Art Deco lobby along Van Buren Street. Inside, the 350-foot-long grand hall that’s open to the public, revealed gems of the Art Deco era: flooring of amber and white checkered marble, brass grillwork, alcoves clad in gold mosaic tile—all of it retained and extensively cleaned. The ceilings gold leaf was replicated—and the 6-foot-long 1920s pendant lanterns newly fitted with LEDs.

“This building is very unique in nature,” said Sheryl Schulze of Gensler.

“It’s comprised of three buildings, with 250,000 square foot sweeping floor plates, 18-foot ceilings, and varying floor heights that create several loft-like spaces.”

Some 2,200 windows received new glazing, their old steel framing replaced with aluminum. Inside, the lobby, a 350-foot-long grand hall that’s open to the public, reveals gems of the art deco era: flooring of amber and white checkered marble, brass grillwork, alcoves clad in gold mosaic tile—all of it retained and extensively cleaned. Slight alterations happened on the ceiling—newly plastered for the installation of and access to new HVAC systems but its gold leaf replicated—and the 6-foot-long 1920s pendant lanterns newly fitted with LEDs.

This new space is called Catalog, in honor of the building’s initial tenant, Sears, Roebuck & Co., and serves not only the building’s tenants, but it’s more than 1.7 million annual visitors. Some 2,200 windows received new glazing, their old steel framing replaced with aluminum. Inside, the lobby, a 350-foot-long grand hall that’s open to the public, reveals gems of the art deco era: flooring of amber and white checkered marble, brass grillwork, alcoves clad in gold mosaic tile—all of it retained and extensively cleaned. Slight alterations happened on the ceiling—newly plastered for the installation of and access to new HVAC systems but its gold leaf replicated—and the 6-foot-long 1920s pendant lanterns newly fitted with LEDs.

This new space is called Catalog, in honor of the building’s initial tenant, Sears, Roebuck & Co., and serves not only the building’s tenants, but it’s more than 1.7 million annual visitors.

The Meadow, a 3½-acre rooftop park, designed by Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects, is an outdoor experience encompassing nearly the entire building—three blocks long and one block wide—and showcases a basketball court, native plantings, a bistro and bar area, and a running/ walking track for tenants and their guests.

“We’ve been able to reinvent this building into a class A office with game-changing, robust amenities that activate this building and truly make it a destination,” Schulze said.

Architects: Gensler
Design Team: Grant Uhlir, Angela Harper, Becky Callcott, Jeffrey Lawrence, Nathan Engel, Ashley Rogow, Emily Handley, Nimrod Gutman, Riley Atlas, Lety Murray, Paul Hagle, Brenda Wentworth, Stephen Miller, Soo Chae, Wanwan Hao, Yuying Chen, Ryan Sisti, Andrew Brosseit, Melissa Garcia, Francesca Poma-Murialdo, Sabrina Mason, Pia Sachleben, Tracy Wang, Hilary Ingram, Julia Asare, Kelly Vanoteghem, Irene Urmeneta, Alyssa Friedman, Lisa Chung, Les Ventsch, Ryland Auburn, Yi Wang, Dan Hutchins, Scott Lay, Eunkyu Choi, and Yimin Yang
Original Architects: Graham, Anderson, Probst & White (1921)
Preservation Consultants: McGuire Igleski & Associates
Preservation Architects: Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates
Landscape Architects: Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects
Developer: 601W Companies
General Contractor: Bear Construction