SKYBRIDGE RESIDENCE
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 2006

This residence sits at the top of Ralph Johnson's Skybridge Tower, in downtown Chicago. Its unique location for a high rise development offers a perspective on the city that is unparalleled. Nearly 40 stories in the air, its position along the west side of the Kennedy Expressway allows for an unusual elevation foreground view of the Loop and extends north and south along the Lake to the horizon, expanding west to a view un-encumbered by any high-rise or mid-rise development.

The building's most prominent and recognizable feature is a steel canopy structure that provides a visor over the faceted facade and terraces below. The canopy is supported by a single four foot diameter concrete column. This column penetrates the roof and bisects the space into two long double height bars. Conceptually, the project used the existing column as a device to divide the progammatic pieces into formal and informal living spaces. Along the formal side of the column, a thickened wood ceiling runs the length of the bar from the main entry to the living room, where it turns and wraps down the wall, terminating in a fireplace. Along the informal side of the column, a raised inverted ceiling maximizes ceiling heights in the master bedroom while distinguishing the sleeping and sitting area from one another in an otherwise open plan.

The clarity of these simple ceiling elements is controlled by a single long silver millwork wall that runs the length of the eastern edge of the residence and organizes the space. The wall provides a scrim that conceals existing mechanical equipment and regulates the circuitous exterior storefront enclosure. More imporvides a series of portals through which the adjacent cityscape is continually referenced. These portals captures views, making the pictures more intense while at the same time allowing them to become more abstract and two dimensional.

Photos by Steve Hall, Hedrich Blessing. General Contractor was Centaur Construction.

East Terrace

View West from Terrace

View From Halstead

Living Room - NIght

Living Room

Dining

Overlook

Overlook

Bedroom

Kitchen

Bath

View from Family Room