71 South Wacker (formerly Hyatt Center)

The slender, tapering volume was inspired by an unusually narrow site–hemmed in by neighboring office towers–and a prospective tenant’s request for column-free floors of at least 33,000 square feet. Beyond these considerations of site and program, a major goal was to create a feeling of openness and accessibility at ground level. Accordingly, at each end of the tower, a broad, sheltering canopy invites entry through a glazed vestibule into a 50-foot-high skylit reception hall. From these twin halls, visitors proceed through broad foyers into the main lobby, a gently curved, 36-feet-high space that gives access to elevator lobbies carved into the tower’s granite-clad central core. The building’s enhanced security measures are thus accommodated in a way that enriches rather than impoverishes the experience of entry.

A block-long garden shaped by the tower offers an oasis of green to the thousands of commuters who walk by twice daily between the railway station and the central business district.