Chicago Spire @ foundation

Chicago's buildings are known for innovative and revolutionary designs. The Chicago Spire will complement this pattern, and standing at 2,000 feet (610 m), will further transform the already changing Chicago skyline. Crane parts and construction equipment arrived at the site on June 25, 2007. The following day Shelbourne Development officially announced the first construction contract.


Plans for the tower include 1,193 condominiums with each of the building's 150 stories rotating exactly 2.44 degrees from the one below for a total 360 degree rotation. For supplemental structural support, each floor would be surrounded by cantilevered corners and four concave sides. Similar to the Sears Tower and John Hancock Center skydecks, the Chicago Spire will house a community room at the top floor offering residents a view of four states. The soaring four story lobby of the skyscraper will have translucent glass walls and be framed by arching, steel reinforced concrete vaults. The building has been labeled as a giant "drill bit" by the public and others in the media have likened it to a "tall twisting tree" and a "blade of grass".

Facts:

Location: Chicago, Illinois
Groundbreaking: June 25, 2007
Estimated completion: 2011
Opening: 2011
Use: Residential

Roof: 2,000 feet (609.6 m), world’s tallest exclusively residential building and the tallest building in the western world
Floor count: 150
Floor area 3,000,000 square feet (278,709 sq. m)
Lobby footprint is 15,220 sq. ft (1,413.98sqm)
Base-to-height ratio approaches one to ten, making The Chicago Spire the most slender supertall building in the world
Number of apartments: 1,193
World’s longest elevator run at 1,864 feet (568.14m)
Elevators will transport all residents from the ground floor directly to their floor
Average wait time for an elevator is 32.5 seconds
17 elevators (14 passenger elevators in four banks, three freight/fire elevators)
All 1,193 residences are designed by Santiago Calatrava; no two units are alike
Prices will range from $750,000 USD to $40,000,000 USD

Architect: Santiago Calatrava, Perkins and Will
Structural Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti
Mechanical/Electrical Engineers: Cosentini

Contractor: Case Foundation
Developer: Shelbourne Development