Chicago Rooftop Transformation
Chicago, IL
Blast from the past – in 1923, Fulton Street Cold Storage refrigeration building at 1000 West Fulton Market in Chicago, IL, was built with incredible technology, advanced for its time. The sprinkler system, elevators, cork insulation, and ammonia refrigeration were immense and excellent at keeping food fresh. Unfortunately, over time, the improvements in refrigeration technology rendered the Fulton building obsolete. The ice produced from years of use inside became incredible ice formations and had to be thawed to transform the building into modern commercial offices.
As part of a project named 1K Fulton, Site Design Group, Ltd. principal Hana Ishikawa designed a fantastic roof deck and amenity space. This Chicago-based firm created a beautiful roof setting on the 7th floor, encompassing green roof plantings, decking, planters, and site furnishings. As a result, the building’s tenants can gather at any time to enjoy the Chicago skyline.
In the beginning, Hana and the team started with a clean slate, drawing conceptual designs even before a building tenant was named. As the design progressed, a tenant with a series of specific requirements leased the space. Site revised the plan to meet the client’s needs, LEED requirements, and the city’s construction stipulations. This included correctly configuring the occupancy of the roof deck since the amenity deck had only two exits. A complicated project!
Another challenge was the client’s desire to shift the deck focus away from the building and toward the skyline. Site divided the roof deck with grasses, planters, seating areas and screened the building side of the deck. Site specified Tournesol Siteworks’ Wilshire Collection planters, which allowed Hana to divide the more prominent regions into sub-areas for more privacy and helped direct the roof deck visitors’ viewing area away from the building and onto the city skyline.
The 72″L x 72″W x 42″H Custom outdoor planters from our Wilshire collection were installed by Robert Ebl, Inc., out of Carol Stream, IL. Of the 43 specified planters, 42 contained scoops, one of our planter product options. Scoop is a feature added to Wilshire Collection planters that allows multiple modular units to appear to form a continuous planting area. The adjacent planter walls are lowered, allowing an extended layer of soil and planting above.