Brininstool + lynch
An overview of projects, products and exclusive articles about brininstool + lynch
Project • By Brininstool + Lynch • Private Houses
Podesta Residence
This winter residence, located on the Atlantic coast of Florida, is part of a planned residential community with specific guidelines regulating the exterior design of the buildings to be “Anglo-Caribbean” in character. Our brief was to create a bright, modernist experience for the interior and courtyard while observing the detailed architectural rules of the development. Our response was to subdue the traditional forms as much as allowable, resulting in a mannerist approach to the envelope of the house, and to create an interior with articulated views to the exterior and flush with natural light. The water of the pool and the geometry of the piazza-like courtyard become integral to the experience of the interior through the use of full-heig... More
Project • By Brininstool + Lynch • Housing
1345 S Wabash
Chicago’s skyline changed dramatically early this century, fueled not by the commercial buildings that crowned it as a center of architecture in the century prior, but by residential towers that answered a growing desire to live in or near the city’s iconic Loop. This construction stalled as the economy spiraled downward in 2007-2010, but it’s begun anew, with the first projects just recently coming on line. Located in the South Loop, 1345 S. Wabash was the first such high-rise to be completed since the recovery set in.Even within the consistently minimal Modernism of our firm, 1345 stands out for its starkly simple composition. The top 12 floors of the east, north, and west elevations are formed by bold horizontal strips of white-painted c... More
Project • By Brininstool + Lynch • Museums
Guggenheim Helsinki Competition
A port of call, a chapel for art, and a place imbued with the tactile influence of Finnish design and culture.Within the operational complexities of the site, this design is a clear and identifiable object that marks the space between water and land. It is an implied berth for ships, a connector of vehicular transportation, and a clear public pathway, drawing pedestrians from both the city center and park. As a ship’s hull, it symbolizes an important civic presence with an inviting nature for public use; as a cathedral, it houses Finnish culture within an envelope of traditional materials that are articulated within a contemporary framework.Long clay bricks in a pronounced pattern are embedded into an array of precast panels to create both... More
Project • By Brininstool + Lynch • Housing
Wood House
Designing this Chicago residence was an exercise in creating privacy within an urban neighborhood while providing an abundance of open, bright space.The first floor is defined by clear views from the landscape in front to the courtyard at back. The second floor has private spaces with northern and eastern light, appropriate for comfortable sleeping spaces. The third floor provides solitude for working and adjacent outdoor areas of repose that encompass views over the courtyard, the neighborhood, and to the city skyline. Together, they comprise a rational and inspiring response to basic needs of living, sleeping and working.The house is organized in an ‘L’. On the first floor, the living room is a two-story volume with a lay-light of pattern... More
Project • By Brininstool + Lynch • Offices
Sterling Partners
Sterling Partners is a private equity firm who decided to couple their business philosophy of “inspired growth” to their work environment by relocating their headquarters to downtown Chicago from the northern suburbs. The new office, located on the 33rd floor of one of the city’s most prominent downtown high-rises, offers 360-degree views of Chicago’s most desirable features: the lake, the river, the Loop and the Gold Coast. Brininstool + Lynch worked closely with the client to define a sense of place that would help reinforce the company’s business philosophy in appearance and operations.The core of the building, containing vertical circulation, restrooms and tenant services, is wrapped in an identity-reinforcing orange glass that marks th... More
Project • By Brininstool + Lynch • Offices
Blue Office
The challenge of Blue Office was to at once divide the 18,000-square-foot floor plate into distinct zones, while also unifying the space into a cohesive whole. Throughout, clear and frosted glass partitions produce enclosure, while a 150-foot-long feature wall and a rich blue elevator and stair core are visible from every space in the office. The feature wall is constructed from custom formed recycled fiberboard fins, and the glowing core is clad in backlit blue acrylic panels. The simple palette provides the client with an efficient and calm workplace, which utilizes materials for their best qualities.
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Project • By Brininstool + Lynch • Offices
Squark/B + L Offices
Brininstool + Lynch first designed this 7,500-square foot, three-story building twelve years ago for a group of theoretical physicists. B + L removed the front of the humble 1920s brick- and-concrete building and replaced it with a beautifully detailed steel-and-glass façade, and completely renovated the interior. When it was finished, this project received a Distinguished Building Honor Award and an Interior Architecture Honor Award from AIA Chicago in 2001 and was featured in Interior Design magazine.The building became available in late 2012, just as Brininstool + Lynch was looking for new office space. The firm built out its studios on the top two floors, allowing it to expand to an architectural staff of thirty-three. A soffit floats a... More
Project • By Brininstool + Lynch • Offices
Arup SoundLab
SoundLab is a state-of-the-art acoustic simulation space which utilizes advanced audio technology, allowing clients and designers to hear the sound of any given sonic environment —existing or conceptual. There are currently nine SoundLabs in existence with Chicago’s being the most recent. Once the acoustical variables of a space are analyzed by Arup’s engineers, its unique soundscape can be precisely mapped and reproduced within the SoundLab. The sound that is produced surpasses the audio quality of conventional sound production and is described as ambisonic — a truly three-dimensional acoustical experience.Arup enlisted the architects to collaborate in designing an enclosure for their new SoundLab within their existing Chicago office, loca... More
Project • By Brininstool + Lynch • Airports
United Airlines Red Carpet Club
In collaboration with the London office of Pentagram, Brininstool + Lynch designed United Airlines’ first new lounge to be constructed in over nine years. In developing new ways to experience the airline lounge, comfort, convenience, and connectivity are brought to new and sophisticated levels, tailored to the frequent traveler. The Red Carpet Club at the north end of O’Hare’s ‘B’ Concourse literally moves the traveler away from the congestion of the terminal holding area, and brings them through a series of spaces that offer relief from airport intensity in a serene environment for work and relaxation. An abundance of natural light is created by a series of modular wood screens that wrap around the perimeter of the space, pr... More
Project • By Brininstool + Lynch • Housing
Lincoln Building, Syracuse University
The city of Syracuse, New York continues the transition from a postindustrial economy to one that is diversified in business type, smaller in skilled labor force, and far less reliant on manufacturing for commercial success. Yet Syracuse is fortunate. The university has become an incubator for long-term economic growth through a variety of community-based initiatives and programs—specifically channeled through the School of Architecture. Syracuse University in collaboration with community organizations and neighborhood residents began the Near West Side Initiative “to combine the power of art, technology and innovation with neighborhood values and culture to revitalize Syracuse’s Near West Side neighborhood.” To help set a tone fo... More
Project • By Brininstool + Lynch • Private Houses
Coffou Cottage
For decades the woods and fields of Southwestern Michigan and Northwestern Indiana, with their close proximity to Lake Michigan and short travel distance from the city, have offered Chicagoans weekend reprieves from urban intensity. The owners of this cottage sought to gain a sense of privacy with their vacation property, and preferred the experience of pastoral views to the natural landscape over views to the lake waters. They were fortunate to find the land that fit their aesthetic aspirations, and subsequently desired a home that would meet their modern concept for living. The cottage was designed with a simple structural system, and was enhanced by a horizontal wood rain screen to privatize the entry sequence on the North, and a wall of... More
Project • By Brininstool + Lynch • Housing
R+D 659
To best optimize views and sunlight, this mixed-use project consists of two residential slabs set against the street and the highway — the resultant corner identifies the building’s entry while also marking an entrance to downtown Chicago from the highway. Clear and translucent glazing combined with architectural metal and concrete articulate the lobby and retail functions while masking the garage and building services within the three story base. An exterior level above provides a space for private and shared activities, composed in water, stone, vegetation, and wood. The residences that overlook the city are developed with full height glass and projected balconies to heighten the experience, while street side residences have flo... More
Project • By Brininstool + Lynch • Private Houses
Claremont House
Traditional materials of brick, concrete, limestone, steel, and zinc are used to form a non-traditional house on a typical lot on the north side of Chicago. The house further resists city conventions by uniting the front yard with the back through visual transparency, where sheets of glass more than ten feet high and fourteen feet wide terminate an open plan of sixty-three feet in length on the first floor. A three-story volume of millwork separates the floors from the vertical circulation of the stairway and contains storage and equipment, neatly separating functional performance from open space. An island of stainless steel for kitchen use and dining is the only object built within the open space of the... More
Project • By Brininstool + Lynch • Apartments
Coffou Apartment
Located in Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s landmark 860 Lake Shore Drive building, the design objective was to transform a three-bedroom apartment into a spacious one-bedroom while maintaining the Miesian detail and influence of the building envelope throughout the space. By removing interior bedroom partitions the apartment was opened to more natural light and panoramic views of the city. Translucent glass panels are used to divide the bedroom to further add dimension and natural light. Custom millwork and cabinets create an atmosphere of spaciousness while providing precise function, and redefine the interior core. Draperies provide both insulating and acoustical properties, as does the monolithic cork floor. The custom dining table is constru... More
Project • By Brininstool + Lynch • Offices
VSA Partners
VSA Partners, Inc., one of the fastest-growing global branding and strategic marketing firms in the country, hired our office to design a new office space for their 170 employees in the old Montgomery Ward Warehouse on the Chicago River. This innovative firm asked us to create an environment that works well with their informal office culture, and appeals to their expanding corporate client base. Supporting a program of sustainable and green initiatives is an important part of the project as well. The expansive loft space lends itself to an open studio environment of large “work rooms” for designers and strategists, filled with natural light and views to the city. These large studio spaces are designed for collaboration among staff... More