Chicago, Illinois, USA
Connecticut-based Roger Ferris + Partners and developer Related Midwest have unveiled a new tower in Chicago’s West Loop, intending to evoke the famous Chicago bay windows developed by the First Chicago School of Architecture at the end of the 19th-Century.
Located at the gateway of the West Loop, Equinox Hotel and Residences will be the newest destination for inspired living, leisure, wellness and entertainment. The development is anchored by an Equinox Hotel and Club and also includes rental residences and an office tower.
The two-tower mixed-use development possesses an industrial aesthetic that also pays homage to the rich industrial history of the West Loop neighborhood.
The 51-story tower is wrapped in a grid or steel, aluminum, and glass with the tallest portion pivots at an oblique angle and has three-part windows that angle inward—the result resembling an “inverted” interpretation of a classic Chicago-style bay.
The building includes a multi-story pedestal running from Washington to Randolph. The building’s entrance would be located along Randolph, with a hotel & residential lobby and a restaurant on the northeast corner of the property.
Special consideration was given to the pedestrian approach, with the goal of extending Randolph Street’s vibrant commercial corridor east of Halsted Street toward the Loop.
In addition to creating this important pedestrian link, 725 W. Randolph is intended to serve as a gateway – through design and location – to the neighborhood’s famed Restaurant Row.
At its height of 550 feet, the tower will be one of the tallest in the West Loop neighborhood west of the Kennedy Expressway, and will, nonetheless, have a large impact given its location in the mostly mid-rise Fulton Market District.
The tower will include 370 rental apartments, an Equinox fitness club, a 240-room Equinoxbranded hotel, and underground parking and is slated for completion in 2022.
“We feel this is a very important site that deserves attention,” said Related Midwest President Curt Bailey, when the plan was first revealed in early 2018. “It’s the gateway from downtown to the West Loop.”
Equinox Hotel and Residences by Roger Ferris+ Partners
Architects: Roger Ferris + Partners
Developers: Related Midwest
