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Aqua
Cost: $474 Million
A distinctive aesthetic design feature of 86-story Aqua mixed-use residential tower in Chicago will be the building's undulating waves of concrete.
The appearance of ripples will be achieved via the edge of every balcony, says Steve Wiley, chief estimator of Chicago-based James McHugh Construction Co., the contractor.
"Each edge or perimeter of every balcony is unique and different from the one above or below it," he says. "It will look like there was a fire in the building that randomly burned the patterns going up the face of the building."
Designers are working with glass and reflectivity to accentuate the appearance of wave shapes.
Given the unorthodox design feature, the typical issues of construction are being carefully thought through.
For instance, finding the best location and connecting the hoist will be challenging because of the varying geometry of the balcony edges.
The undulating design feature, however, will not have a bearing on the structure.
"It's a simple, rectangular structure, and the only thing 'moving' are the balcony edges themselves," Wiley says.
One Big Building
The 2.2 million-sq-ft building on Columbus Drive will hold 968 housing units-474 rental apartments, 264 condominiums, 225 hotel rooms and nine park houses.
Because of its size, Wiley says the building will require 31 rock caissons-footings socketed about 6 ft into the bedroom beneath Chicago. The project also calls for 223 traditional belled caissons.
In addition, the structure will rest on a 6-ft-thick concrete mat slab.
Due to the complexity of the project, elements that include the structure, mechanical system, electrical system and fire protection are being done design-build, Wiley says.
A podium will hold 1,300 parking spaces. The podium's lid will hold many of the building's amenities-running track, walking path, fire pits, whirlpools, lap pool and volleyball court. The building will hold two ballrooms.
Construction activity started in February and is expected to last until February 2010, Wiley says.
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Good thing he's not the architect's spokesman! Not quite as attractive as the erosion analogy.
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