1000M | Chicago, Illinois, USA | 2024

Architects: Jahn/
Design Team:  Helmut Jahn, Philip Castillo, Lynda Dossey, Peter Hayes, Nebojsa Stanic, and Dan Cubric
Interior Architects: Kara Mann Design
General Contractor: McHugh Construction Co.
Clients: Time Equities Inc. and JK Equities, LLC.
Photographers: Tom Rossiter

With its height of 805 feet, 1000M is a visible addition to the Chicago’s skyline. Located at the south end of Grant Park it makes an important statement along the Historic Michigan Boulevard District. Its location between the Willis and Museum Park towers creates balance with northern Grant Park including the Aon, Blue Cross Blue Shield and 340 on the Park buildings. At the south end of Grant Park, it forms a significant high-rise cluster along with Museum Park Tower and NEMA at Roosevelt and Michigan Avenue, creating a closure to the open space, like at the north at Michigan Avenue and Randolph.

The design is inspired by the site’s position at the intersection of nature and the city. The east and west facades converge at sharp edges on the northeastern and southwestern corners, while the opposing corners resolve into soft curves. The north and south building facades reflect interlocking triangles, which move in distinct planes away from each other along a shared diagonal seam that runs up the entire tower.

The building’s unique shape has produced fresh, innovative floor plates that are transformed into apartments with a refined touch. 1000M gradually widens at the northeast and southwest corners, allowing its floor plate to transition from an efficient rectangle at the base to an expansive parallelogram at the top, giving even the southwestern units prime views of Lake Michigan and the Museum Campus. A playful grouping of organic curves and angled corners mimics the silhouette of the building.
The 32,400 square-foot parcel with 134 feet of Michigan Avenue frontage was the last developable site along Michigan Avenue. The site fronted the south end of Grant Park and with the newer towers along Roosevelt Road to the south would create the much-needed bookend to the development along the north edge of Grant Park.

The site enjoyed proximity to the city’s Museum Campus, the Chicago Lakefront and Soldier Field immediately to the south. To the north, 910 South Michigan Avenue is a 20-story residential building converted from its original office use in 2000. To the south, 1006 South Michigan Avenue is an 8-story loft building with a historic terra cotta façade acquired by the client in 2015. Due to the restrictions of the Michigan Avenue site, the client acquired the small parcel to the west fronting Wabash Avenue providing vehicular access to the site.

This iconic tower at a premier location needed to respond at different levels to its urban condition and skyline identity. The first 19 floors up to 214 feet presented a strong rectilinear definition to harmonize with the block buildings that line historic Michigan Avenue. In addition, the south face of this lower structure sloped 18 feet to the south over the adjacent 1006 South Michigan Avenue building allowing the tower above to have a long axis in the north south direction. The intention was to have less glass in this structure to relate to the punched openings prevalent in the adjacent buildings. Separated by a two-story “cut” the tower rises from the 22nd floor up to the 73rd floor. The tower component is conceived as a rectangle with slightly curved east and west facades. The northwest and southeast corners are curved and rise vertically through the height of the tower. The opposing corners at the northeast and southwest slope out 12 feet reaching out to the city and transforming the plan to a parallelogram at the roof. The geometry is resolved by a diagonal crease that traverses the height of the north and south facades.

The tower’s facade evolved out of the architect’s interest in not providing the city with another all-glass tower, respect for the historic structures along Michigan Avenue, and the client’s belief that the residents do not want glass to extend to the floor. The studies undertaken focused on a facade with a strong horizontal expression utilizing a mill-finished aluminum panel flush with the silicone-glazed vision units. The lower part of the building is a modern expression of the adjacent historic facades with profiled aluminum panels and a higher sill height resulting in more visible aluminum. The tower is a composition of flat and profiled aluminum panels accentuating the lower block and softer curved tower differently. The curved corners needed to be segmented glass due to cost however the spandrels were curved to reinforce the horizontality of the architectural expression.

1000M represents a new direction in Chicago’s residential multi-fsmily market setting standards that will inform future buildings. Architecturally, the building is a strong example of how architecture contributes to the urban landscape. Both the architectural and commercial success of 1000M could only result from the collaboration of architect, client and builder, all committed to a common goal.