CHICAGO | Roosevelt University Dorm | 469 FT / 143M | 32 FLOORS | COM

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by ardecila

That's the last real pocket of surface lots in or around the Loop. They're tricky to develop because businesses don't want to be up against the L tracks and neither do residents.

^ Perhaps, but the success of the Heritage and the Legacy kind of disprove that grain of thinking, I'd say..

[J_M_Tungsten]

Well as long as we don't mind 12 story parking podiums over there, maybe one day there will be something of value on those lots.

[photoLith]

Is the L really that loud? I cant imagine that some simple soundproofing at the floors near the height of the L wouldnt take care of that problem.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Perhaps, but the success of the Heritage and the Legacy kind of disprove that grain of thinking, I'd say..

Those two are successful because of Millennium Park and the park/lake views they provide. Clever design placed most of the residential units where the noise from the trains would not be an issue. High land values and very few available sites in the Loop also contributed to the need to develop these buildings where they are.

The noise is not the only issue. The shadowy nature of Wabash underneath the L is also a turn-off for many people. Wabash is by far the best leg of the Loop because of the extremely wide sidewalks, but it's still a factor that reduces demand along the corridor.

[OhioGuy]

Originally Posted by photolitherland

Is the L really that loud? I cant imagine that some simple soundproofing at the floors near the height of the L wouldnt take care of that problem.

I personally have never heard a louder rail transit system than the L. The shadows cast by the tracks on Wabash don't necessarily bother me as much as the noise. It sounds like a heap of scrap metal being dragged across the tracks. I appreciate the L, but boy oh boy is it loud!

[ardecila]

From what I understand, the high-frequency screeching is pretty easy to drown out with inexpensive soundproofing. It's the low-frequency rumbling that's the problem - there's so much energy behind it that it's very difficult to dampen.

[photoLith]

I used to live seriously 15 ft off of a major highway and no matter how much I tried I could never block out the low rumbling of the 18 wheelers that would drive by every 10 seconds or so. It drove me absolutely nuts, I couldnt sleep at all while living in that craptastic apartment. I had a one year lease on it and I broke the lease after a month of living there, so that kinda sucked. But still, if a developer were building a new building next to the L, theres plenty of pro sound proofing materials that work very good on blocking out the low pitches. But whatever, Im sure something eventually will be built thats noteworthy on those parking spaces.

[tintinex]

Originally Posted by OhioGuy

I personally have never heard a louder rail transit system than the L. The shadows cast by the tracks on Wabash don't necessarily bother me as much as the noise. It sounds like a heap of scrap metal being dragged across the tracks. I appreciate the L, but boy oh boy is it loud!

I just moved to the South Loop last month to a building right next to the tracks, and even though I'm in the 22nd floor I can still clearly hear the trains. After a month I'm starting to get used to it but boy is it loud! Especially late at night

[Tom Servo]

Originally Posted by photolitherland

Is the L really that loud? I cant imagine that some simple soundproofing at the floors near the height of the L wouldnt take care of that problem.

it is the loudest, most obnoxious thing i've ever heard (seriously, it is comparable to a jet taking off right on top of you). after day upon day, week upon week, and so on... one gets more or less used to it... but it is still obscenely loud.

[Rizzo]

I'm sure it's just like the shrill sirens at all times of the night / early morning on Chicago Avenue. It's annoying at first, but you get used to it. I wake up alot in the middle of the night because of it, but usually don't realize why I woke up and fall back asleep seconds later.

[J_M_Tungsten]

1-31
From Columbus

[harryc]

Took more photos than I had time to post








These pegs help tie the concrete to the collum.

[harryc]

Concrete will NOT come away from this column




Is the crosswise (45 deg angle) rebar to help compensate for the discontinuous concrete pour.


Ready to tie into the next level.


And a hydrolic jack - fine adjustments on the forms ? doesn't look long enough to raise the forms up to the next level.

[texcolo]

Nice photos. See if you can get a picture of the brand on the rebar. The first number, letter or sometimes symbol will tell you what mill produced it, the next will tell you the grade of steel, and the last two will tell you the gauge of the bar itself.

The bars that are bent into squares are called 'stirrups.'

The bars that are bent into 'L' are called 'L-bars.'

I sure hope they can squeeze the aggregate of the concrete in between some of the rebar, I think a 3/4" aggregate would have a hard time getting around some of that stuff.

[SpireGuy]

Does anyone know if the building will have window openings in the concrete structure?

Most of the renderings I've seen online have a horrendous concrete wall that does not go with the glass. They'd be crazy not to build windows.

[Nowhereman1280]

^^^ I'm pretty sure that's not poured-in-place concrete on the model. I'm fairly certain that its either some sort of pre-cast paneling or some sort of metal paneling. I'd be much happier with metal panels of course, but a nice dark-gray stain of precast would look great as well. I think its quite clear that there will be no giant blank wall and that the whole wall will be fenestrated.

[SpireGuy]

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280

^^^ I'm pretty sure that's not poured-in-place concrete on the model. I'm fairly certain that its either some sort of pre-cast paneling or some sort of metal paneling. I'd be much happier with metal panels of course, but a nice dark-gray stain of precast would look great as well. I think its quite clear that there will be no giant blank wall and that the whole wall will be fenestrated.

I just hope there are window slits along the east and west walls rather than just the north. Plus, some renderings show slits on the north wall and others show monotonous windows that are spaced equally and are all the same size. The renderings on this site make the south side of the building look interesting and inspiring, while the north side is boring and appears disjointed from south wall of the building. I'm confused as to why the model in Roosevelt's lobby is so different from the renderings released by the university. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[i_am_hydrogen]

Core is up to the 6th or 7th floor.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280

^^^ I'm pretty sure that's not poured-in-place concrete on the model. I'm fairly certain that its either some sort of pre-cast paneling or some sort of metal paneling. I'd be much happier with metal panels of course, but a nice dark-gray stain of precast would look great as well. I think its quite clear that there will be no giant blank wall and that the whole wall will be fenestrated.

My guess is that the lower part of the wall will be concrete and the upper part metal paneling. The lower part is too close to the lot line, and it needs some sort of fire separation between it and a potential future adjacent building. Thin metal paneling can't provide the required fire rating in an efficient manner.

This rendering shows the lower part as a sheer wall. I don't think it'll be that bad (we'll get some windows on both parts of the wall) but there will probably be a material difference. The core is also pushed up against the north side of the lot, so I doubt the core will have many windows in it if at all.

[george]