Park Tower - Chicago, IL
Soaring 67 stories feet above Chicago’s prestigious North Michigan Avenue, Park Tower is one of the world’s tallest buildings to be clad with architectural precast concrete panels. Architectural Precast panels were used, mainly for the critical savings in both time and money.
The goal in designing the precast cladding was to create a look compatible with the nearby Old Water Tower landmark, which features golden-colored stone. Lehigh White Cement was chosen for use in the golden buff-colored precast concrete that clads the base and a large extent of the tower. An acid-etched texture on the panels simulates a fine limestone finish. The use of precast concrete allowed for many interesting design elements, including the building’s jointing and cornice details, the curved column transitions and the arched spandrels on the tower’s 90 balconies located near the building’s corners.
Precast erection for the tower took about 14 months, during which time 3,152 pieces of precast cladding were erected.
Designer: Lucien Lagrange & Assoc. Ltd., Chicago, IL
Production Architect: HKS, Inc., Dallas, TX
Precast Manufacturer: Precast Concrete Specialties, Inc., Omro, WI
