The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) has big plans to build a $523M facility on a surface lot at 630 N. McClurg, two blocks from its current home at 345 E. Superior. Last night, Ald. Brendan Reilly and SOAR co-hosted the first in a series of meetings to discuss the project. RIC has hired the architecture firms HDR and Gensler to design the new building, which we revealed earlier this year. The 480-foot tower will house 272 patient beds and 830 parking spots located above grade in an enclosed parking garage. RIC, nationally top-ranked 22 years running, is raising the bar with a cutting-edge, all-inclusive approach to patient care known as an Ability Lab. The new hospital will contain five such labs, each one designed to address a different medical issue.
Reps. from HDR and Gensler were on hand to discuss the design in greater detail. The building is set back from Erie St. to accommodate three lanes of patient loading space. We were able to glimpse the ground floor lobby, which boasts 25-foot tall ceilings and full height glass for plenty of transparency at street level. Another signature design element: the tenth floor sky lobby. It will be surrounded by sky gardens for leisure as well as therapeutic use and also includes a 150-seat auditorium, program space, and internal meeting space. Lastly, to create some visual interest, areas of the shingled curtain wall facade have been reoriented to reflect light from various angles. No timetable as yet for construction, but the PD will be filed shortly with the city.
·Design of New Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago Taking Shape [Curbed Chicago]
Loading comments...