On the Boards

The latest residential high-rise to cause a stir in Chicago is 340 East Randolph, aka 340 on the Park. Designed by local firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz, the 62-story building's site is just east of Dirk Lohan's Blue Cross Blue Shield headquarters and is part of the Lakeshore East development (though it is the most removed of the many structures planned, also orienting itself primarily south and away from the rest of the development). Perhaps responding to its neighbor, 340 is a glassy box, though the articulation of its façade recalls multi-story residential structures by Le Corbusier.



Via the façade's composition and its materials, 340 separates itself from many recent examples that merely paint exposed concrete and have much less glass on the exterior wall. A multi-story horizontal band at the 25th floor helps to break up the tall elevation, calling out the pool and wintergarden on that floor, duplicated at the top of the building.

In Chicago, views predominate when people choose to live in a high-rise. Developments that have unencumbered views (ideally guaranteed by natural and/or city-protected features) sell quickly and at great profit. Riverbend is a good example, situated where the Chicago River turns south, and now 340, with amazing views of Grant Park and beyond. In the past developers have taken advantage of lake views, building towers miles north of downtown, but with Chicago's plan to shift office space west in the Loop and group residences near the park, Grant Park is replacing the lake as the thing to look at. The recent completion of Millennium Park solidifies its importance in bringing people into downtown to live.