One Bennett Park
Chicago
Award of Merit
Owner: Related Midwest
Lead Design Firm: Robert A.M. Stern Associates LLP
General Contractor: Lendlease
Structural Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti
Civil Engineer: Spaceco Inc.
MEP Engineer: WMA Consulting Engineers Ltd.
Architect of Record: GREC Architects
Landscape Architect: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc.
Upon its completion in August 2019, the 836-ft-tall One Bennett Park is the tallest all-residential tower in Chicago. The 774,000-sq-ft, 70-story luxury residential building contains 69 condominiums and 279 apartments.
The high-rise was built on a site that had contained buried wood. One of the challenges for Chicago-based contractor Lendlease began at site preparation. Located at 451 East Grand Ave. in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood and a block from the city’s Navy Pier, the lot was once a site for a building operated by food giant Kraft. The site preparation included extraction of more than 500 piles of wood, many of which were rotting near the water table. It took several weeks of work to remove the debris so as not to interfere with the caissons.
The building is Art Deco inspired, and the limestone structure is meant to evoke old-world charm via framed oversized windows, custom ornamental metalwork and two motor courts with patterned pavers and oil-rubbed bronze doors.
