CHICAGO | General Developments

[SolarWind]

July 22, 2021



January 31, 2022

[rivernorthlurker]

Originally Posted by bcp

hadn't seen 732 W Randolph before - this a sharp slice of infill development - and looks to take up almost the entire lot



from Curbed

Yeah I'm very interested to see how this one turns out.

[west-town-brad]

speaking of signs....

remember when rahm added those digital billboards along the Kennedy (90/94) to balance the city budget - people flipped their sh*t

remember when trump added the sign to his hotel - people still flip their sh*t

[thegoatman]

https://urbanize.city/chicago/post/m...ned-629-w-lake


new infill project just dropped, great parking ratio but those balconies are awful. everything else look good.

[west-town-brad]

Originally Posted by thegoatman

https://urbanize.city/chicago/post/m...ned-629-w-lake


new infill project just dropped, great parking ratio but those balconies are awful. everything else look good.

interesting

I thought the city recently started to really pushed back on balconies over the public sidewalk

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by SolarWind

Is veneer face brick like this just mortared to the precast panel like a tile would be or is there also some kind of mechanical fastener?

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Is veneer face brick like this just mortared to the precast panel like a tile would be or is there also some kind of mechanical fastener?

For this kind of system, it's probably just mortar. Concrete and brick expand and contract at similar rates, so you don't need to have a complicated connection between the two. Any minor expansion/contraction gets handled at the control joints between panels.

If you're doing thin brick over a wood frame building, plywood substrate or other system where you need a lot of tolerance for flex and movement, you can use a metal panel system that has some mechanical action. These are all proprietary systems.
e.g. https://brickit.com/systems/systems-dmg

[SolarWind]

1220 W Jackson

December 23, 2019

[Busy Bee]

Very interesting. Thanks.

[Randomguy34]

Originally Posted by bcp

hadn't seen 732 W Randolph before - this a sharp slice of infill development - and looks to take up almost the entire lot

Tower crane permits were issued yesterday. It's 126 ft tall, so highrise height despite being only 8 stories

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by west-town-brad

interesting

I thought the city recently started to really pushed back on balconies over the public sidewalk

This is very similar to the project at the Santorini site at Halsted/Adams. Also designed by Axios. That one also has bay windows hanging over the sidewalk in addition to a grid of basket balconies.

https://urbanize.city/chicago/post/d...ed-812-w-adams

Maybe the developers did the math and figured out that the city is underpricing these air rights? Typically public way uses are at the discretion of BACP, who provides a recommendation to City Council. Usually it's a rubber stamp. However, these are subject to City Council approval just like any public way encroachment so hopefully the Council slaps them back.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by thegoatman

https://urbanize.city/chicago/post/m...ned-629-w-lake


new infill project just dropped, great parking ratio but those balconies are awful. everything else look good.

Wow, so nice to see that site developed.

I don't know, nothing wrong with balconies over the sidewalk. Definitely better than a parking podium. "Eyes on the street"

[rlw777]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Wow, so nice to see that site developed.

I don't know, nothing wrong with balconies over the sidewalk. Definitely better than a parking podium. "Eyes on the street"

Sometimes I see these developments with hundreds of individual balconies packed tightly to the sides of the building and I imagine that the architect just really loves the cast iron balconies of New Orleans' french quarter and can't let go of trying to incorporate some approximation of that in their designs no matter how much it doesn't fit with the building.

[Busy Bee]

^I'd wager a guess it has much more to do with pressure from the developer because balconies are, unfortunately for the aesthetics of most modern buildings, a selling point that buyers seem to want (but rarely use, you know, like a stainless steel warming drawer).

[ithakas]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

^I'd wager a guess it has much more to do with pressure from the developer because balconies are, unfortunately for the aesthetics of most modern buildings, a selling point that buyers seem to want (but rarely use, you know, like a stainless steel warming drawer).

I think the ideal setup for a building like this is a shared roof deck with a couple 'private' areas carved out that residents can reserve. Though psychologically buyers seem to want that dedicated outdoor space, however unused it goes.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by rlw777

Sometimes I see these developments with hundreds of individual balconies packed tightly to the sides of the building and I imagine that the architect just really loves the cast iron balconies of New Orleans' french quarter and can't let go of trying to incorporate some approximation of that in their designs no matter how much it doesn't fit with the building.

Given the heavily Greek-leaning staff at Axios, and the developers who are likely Greek, I'm guessing the inspiration is more likely the polykatoikia of Athens. Although the expression of those two Chicago buildings is tailored to steel construction and cold-climate energy codes, rather than the concrete and masonry of Greek cities...

I wouldn't mind it if the balconies were more expressive like those on Aqua, but these are just so god-awful...

[Rizzo]

Steel balconies are like modern day fire escapes to me in their appearance. I like how people customize these spaces to create visual noise

[rlw777]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Given the heavily Greek-leaning staff at Axios, and the developers who are likely Greek, I'm guessing the inspiration is more likely the polykatoikia of Athens. Although the expression of those two Chicago buildings is tailored to steel construction and cold-climate energy codes, rather than the concrete and masonry of Greek cities...

I wouldn't mind it if the balconies were more expressive like those on Aqua, but these are just so god-awful...

They just seem like a tacked on after thought with a lot of developments in Chicago. I wish they were more thought out.. perhaps thought about more wholistically. I mean part of what people appreciate about the best New Orleans balconies for example is that they aren't just added space for a resident or business they are also often designed low enough and wide enough to offer a signifcant amount of shade / shelter and street lighting for pedestrians.

[Busy Bee]

I wish we saw more of the European housing estate practice of having a balcony-like room, sort of a cross between a balcony and three season sun-room, within the exterior envelope of the building but with glazing, albeit less thermally robust with sliding or crank out sashes and then the thermal window and door in the wall between the outdoor room and the living space. I hate the look of a gangplank slab balcony.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

I wish we saw more of the European housing estate practice of having a balcony-like room, sort of a cross between a balcony and three season sun-room, within the exterior envelope of the building but with glazing, albeit less thermally robust with sliding or crank out sashes and then the thermal window and door in the wall between the outdoor room and the living space. I hate the look of a gangplank slab balcony.

https://www.google.com/maps/@44.4340...7i13312!8i6656 this is what I'm thinking of when you say that, but you probably mean something different