Canal Center: The Northern Trust Company

Texture and color were adroitly used on precast concrete spandrel panels and load-bearing column covers to playfully relieve the monotony of a long, low building facade. Architectural precast concrete provided an aesthetically pleasing, durable and low maintenance exterior with extraordinary expensive qualities at a reasonable cost. The repetitive use of relatively simple flat panels with moderate changes in rustication provided a very economical, fireproof exterior treatment. Standard gray cement, limestone aggregate and black pigment mix with assertive reveals and light and medium sandblasted finishes to add interest and excitement to this office building. A system of column haunches, cast into the column cladding to support the spandrel panels, shortened erection time by minimizing connection time. A total of 1,212 precast panels provided 133,000 square feet of cladding.

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Oak Brook Pointe

Located just east of the McDonald's Corporate Headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois, this five story multiple tenant office building has 250,000 square feet of floor space. The modern architecture illustrates unique selections of precast concrete for color, form and texture. The lower base section is a batter wall shape that utilizes an irregular faced block form liner with a granite stone finish. The spandrel panels are ribbed and smooth with a combination acid-etched and sandblasted finish. The upper cornice panels have a diagonal face mitered corners, with inner and outer radius sections that project out from the face of the building approximately six feet. The cornice is white concrete with an acid-etch finish. This project consisted of 375 precast panels, approximately 46,000 square feet of precast surface area.

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University of Chicago Hospitals Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine

The Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine is a "hospital without beds" that provides specialized interdisciplinary diagnostic and treatment programs for cancer, cardiovascular, neurological, digestive and musculoskeletal disorders. In addition, it houses
sophisticated ambulatory surgery, radiation oncology and diagnostic imaging facilities.

The physical structure consists of six levels above grade, a basement and a mechanical penthouse totaling 515,000 square feet, with 200 feet of connecting bridge to Mitchell Hospital and
parking garage.

The skeleton of the building is structural steel with 1018 load-bearing acid etched architectural precast concrete panels, including wall panels, column covers and spandrels totaling 127,018 square feet in a curtain wall envelope.

The landscaping around the building is also accented with 200 plus acid etched architectural precast concrete panels, including coping, seat walls and miscellaneous precast pieces.

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University Center
Location: Chicago, Illinois

LAPPCO was selected to help make Chicago home to the $150 million University Center, America’s largest joint residence hall, providing housing for nearly 1,700 students attending Columbia College, DePaul University and Roosevelt University. Rapid growth in enrollment, along with limited funding concerns, made a joint dormitory an ideal solution.

The 18-story University Center offers a variety of housing options for undergraduate, graduate and professional students. LAPPCO created and installed approximately 1,400 custom designed precast panels to clad the building within a carefully controlled timetable. Completing the 702,000-square-foot building in only two years was a high priority and played a crucial factor in the construction manager’s selection of LAPPCO to be part of the building team.

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