As much sculpture as structure, Chicago’s newest jewel in its breathtaking skyline is the Aqua tower, located on the 200 block of North Columbus Drive. A mixed-use skyscraper that boasts 215 hotel rooms, 475 rental units and 263 condos and penthouses, the 82-story building was designed by Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang Architects and developed by Magellan Development.
Despite its prime location, Aqua was not built for the super-wealthy; and in spite of its great height, it is not an iconic attention-grabber. With almost 750 residential units and nearly 2 million square feet, the challenge of Aqua was to house a large number of people at a reasonable cost, while enhancing its environment with an elegant design, according to architect Gang.
At its core, Aqua is the standard glass hi-rise. But protruding from its four surfaces are undulating concrete balconies resembling ripples or waves — a highly appropriate architectural signature, considering the building’s proximity to Lake Michigan. To capture these views of the lake as well as nearby landmarks for Aqua residents, Gang stretched its concrete balconies outward by as much as 12 feet. The result is a building composed of irregularly shaped concrete floor slabs, which lend the facade an undulating quality from a distance.
The building’s watery theme coupled with the attainable-elegance vision of the developer and the architect made GROHE a perfect fit for the project. A wide selection of GROHE faucets and accessories — from the standard Eurodisc and Eurosmart to upgrade choices that include the Minta, Zedra, Essence and Allure — echo the marriage of sculpture and function in much the same way the building itself does.
