The Ledge at Skydeck Chicago
Honor Award
The task of creating a sky-high attraction that seems like a deathdefying place but is in fact as safe as standing on solid ground entailed meticulous engineering. For the new Ledge attraction at the tower formerly known as Sears, jurors noted, architects and engineers "had a very clearly stated problem and they researched it and refined it with great focus." The cubicle-sized glass boxes that extend 4 feet from the walls of the 103rd floor can retract back into the building for maintenance. The supporting frame of these oversized drawers is made of hollow tubes, some of which double as ductwork that bring conditioned air to the outer edges of the box, to allow air flow across the super-clear glass in order to eliminate condensation. "Some serious research went into that," one juror said. "Every part of it is very well thought out, and the execution is sharp."
- Architect
- Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
- Client
- US Equities Realty
- Consultants
- Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (structural); MTH Industries (glass/architectural metal); Schuler Shook, Inc. (lighting); ImageFiction, Inc. (graphics)
- General contractor
- Bergland Construction Company
- Location
- Chicago, IL
- Category
- Miscellaneous
