Wilmette, Illinois, USA

Optima Verdana is a seven-story, 100-unit apartment building in Wilmette on Chicago’s suburban North Shore.

Standing on a corner site and clad entirely in glass with a partially exposed concrete frame, the building makes a striking first impression.

The sawtooth façade emphasizes the play of light and shadow over the surface. Terraces edged with irrigated plants introduce a touch of green.

Retail is at the street level where a café is opening soon. Through the lobby and a lounge, a courtyard is visible that has been richly landscaped with native plants.

Optima Verdana by Optima, received an 2025 International Architecture Honourable Mention from The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design.

In Arizona, where the firm has one of its offices, experiments over generations of multi-family projects have demonstrated the power of introducing computer-controlled irrigated plantings on the balconies of multi-story residential projects.

For the first time, the firm is trying this strategy on Verdana in Illinois. Given the vast difference in climate between Arizona and Illinois, the architects in Chicago experimented with varieties of evergreens in prototype planters to find one that could withstand Chicago winters and remain green.

The plants, once found, were introduced to Verdana terraces where they create a soft green fringe on the building façade.

Evergreen trees were planted at the roof’s edge where they form a statuesque profile. The project also contains a courtyard extensively landscaped with native plants that is very quiet and can connect residents with nature.

Fundamental design elements that are a part of all the firm’s work, promote mental health. That means floor-to-ceiling glass that floods the space with uplifting natural light and open floor plans that allow light to penetrate the entire apartment.

In addition to that, there are more worldly amenities at Verdana that nurture the body, these include a full gym with weight-lifting equipment, aerobic equipment, and a pickleball court.

There are also Pilates’s reformers, a dedicated Yoga studio, a massage room and a children’s playroom. Off the lobby there is access to a courtyard landscaped with native plants.

There is an interior lap pool and sauna on the top floor and, on the rooftop, there are extensive terraces, for lounging and playing.

Residents of the building have been observed taking their morning coffee and news feed up to the rooftop for consumption there. Friendships among residents have developed.

People in this building live beyond their apartments, taking in the communal amenities and meeting one another in casual settings.

The building was designed for this; to invite a greater community of residents to bond and get to know one another and it has succeeded.

The project’s ground level is dedicated to the building’s entry and retail. At the entry, there is a public space with places to sit and a large original sculpture by the architect.

A café is soon expected for a corner spot in the building with outdoor tables and chairs. All of these developments invite foot traffic and intermingling among community residents.

Project: Optima Verdana
Architects: Optima, Inc.
Lead Architect: David Hovey Jr.
General Contractor: Optima, Inc.
Client: Optima, Inc.
Photographers: Bill Timmerman