LOCATION
Chicago, Illinois

AREA
1.2 million GSF

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Standing sixty stories high and located where the North and South branches of the Chicago River converge, Salesforce Tower constitutes the final phase of the Wolf Point campus. The newest addition to the Chicago skyline brings 1.2 million square feet of Class A office space to the River North district. Public amenities surrounding the structure include a 2.3-acre public park, a riverfront plaza, and the Chicago Riverwalk. In addition to its premier office space, the tower plays host to 25,000 GSF of commercial retail space, a spectacular view of the skyline on its top floors, and a plaza area for outdoor gatherings.

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

• The project is LEED Gold Certified and WELL Building Certified and includes features such as UV lights in air handling units that mitigate microbial growth., dual-level air filtration with perimeter foam gaskets to prevent filter bypass., MERV 16 air filters effectively capture COVID-19 particles, and CO2 monitoring adjusts outside air quantity based on occupancy.
• The mechanical system is comprised of a chiller plant on the bottom floor, which pushes cold water to ‘nests of infrastructure’ on different levels of the building. A space of this size and scale required more infrastructure than would fit in a standard mechanical room. “Outrigger floors” that were designed by the structural engineer to hold cross-bracing and beams were not ideal for tenant use. As a result, large air handling units and other vital infrastructure components were custom-fit around the structural components.
• All significant hydronic piping in the building is suspended by a spring, limiting the amount of sound generated by the HVAC system to ensure a noise-free working environment for office tenants.
• The electrical design team dedicated a portion of each level as space for the electrical utility company, and that stacks throughout the building. This design allows for more efficient electrical distribution to tenants on a floor-by-floor basis.
• The architectural team worked in conjunction with Alvine Engineering’s mechanical engineers and the structural engineer to create a one-of-a-kind offset curtain wall that effectively hides the louvers while also providing a breathtakingly seamless exterior glass wall.

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Photography credit: Jason O’Rear