At 82 stories and over 1.9 million sf, Aqua Tower is one of few high-rises in the world that creates a community on its façade, according to the architect, Jeanne Gang.
With a hotel, apartments, condominiums, parking, offices, and one of Chicago’s largest green roofs, this multi-use tower demonstrates both architectural and technical achievements. Its outdoor terraces—which differ in shape from floor to floor based on criteria such as views, solar shading and dwelling size/type—create a strong connection to the outdoors and the city, as well as form the tower’s distinctive undulating appearance. Gang cites the striated limestone outcroppings that are a common topographic feature of the Great Lakes region as inspirations for these slabs.
The Aqua Tower is located at 225 North Columbus Drive, and is surrounded by high-rises. The building contains 55,000 square feet of retail and office space, in addition to 215 hotel rooms (floors 1-18), 476 rental residential units (floors 19-52), and 263 condominium units & Penthouses (floors 53-81). Aqua is the first downtown building to combine condos, apartments and a hotel.
Photo credit: Marcin Wichary
Additional information: Wikipedia