A paradox of architecture is that sometimes the constraints of a site location actually end up unlocking and inspiring solutions to a breakthrough building design. Chicago’s 150 N. Riverside is a multi-use skyscraper built atop a two-acre riverfront space. The waterfront land in the heart of Chicago’s prime real estate market went undeveloped for nearly a century due to site challenges including waterfront zoning, commuter railroad lines, city requirements for public right-of-way provisions and no existing utilities.
A Ground-Up Approach to Design
The 150 N. Riverside developer, Riverside Investment & Development Company, and architect Goettsch Partners, navigated a network of elevated bridge structures on three sides of the site along with a river walk on the remaining side to create a one-of-a-kind design. In approaching the design, the team literally took a “ground-up” approach, achieving a completely core supported building on which a glass tower appears to emerge and ascend from a granite center.
The end result of designers’ and planners’ work is a LEED Gold structure that preserves 75% of the site as open, public space, delivering one of the largest privately owned public urban spaces in the nation. The public aspect of the building continues on the interior of 150 N. Riverside as the building houses the largest public property art installation in Chicago; including a 120’ long LED display made of 91 narrow blades.
Supporting Thermal Performance and Life Safety in the Enclosure
Completed in 2017 and standing 724 feet, 150 North Riverside includes 52 floors of mixed use space including restaurants, office and residential space. Like many of America’s tallest buildings – including four of the five tallest buildings in the western hemisphere, 150 Riverside trusts Owens Corning® Thermafiber® mineral wool, to help protect occupants’ life safety.
Erik Harris, associate principal at Goettsch Partners, notes that Thermafiber® mineral wool insulation incorporates very well with vapor barriers and, because it is available in custom sizes, installs easily between curtain wall framing members. “Thermafiber’s physical properties and mechanical performance make it a highly practical material for adding insulation value to the spandrels”, said Harris, noting the building’s perimeter fire containment system supports life safety via Thermafiber® mineral wool between the floor slab and curtain wall. From a material perspective, Thermafiber also contributed points toward the building’s LEED gold rating.
Thermafiber® FireSpan® products are designed to provide enhanced fire protection in curtain wall and perimeter fire containment systems. The technologies employed in Thermafiber® are supported by a half-century legacy of leadership pioneering advances in perimeter fire containment assemblies and a rich archive of engineering judgments informing assemblies. The non-combustible nature of mineral wool – coupled with other properties that enable it to mitigate moisture, help manage acoustics and contribute points toward credentials such as LEED – extend its benefits beyond perimeter fire containment.
While few high-rise buildings must address site challenges as vexing as those confronting the team who designed 150 N. Riverside, life safety is always the number one priority when it comes to serving a building’s occupants and visitors. Owens Corning® Thermafiber® Insulation is committed to providing solutions that help architects confidently design, specify and build safe and durable commercial structures. This shared mission to achieve safety and performance inspired Owens Corning to become the first insulation manufacturer to be publicly listed with The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as having products bearing the SAFETY Act Designation.
From an innovative core supported foundation to massive rooftop water tanks that help manage wind load, 150 N. Riverside is visible proof of building science in action. And though obstructed from view, Owens Corning® Thermafiber® Insulation products are also contributing to the building science at work in one of the Midwest’s most notable riverfront buildings.
