RESEARCH + COMPETITIONS

Vertical Agora

COMPETITION : Work Design, 2021 Next Work Environment Competition, Office Building category (winner)

DATE COMPLETED : 2021

WEB LINK

This competition asked for submissions to examine what the Post-Covid office could look like. Our team decided to focus our case study submission on shared amenities and public spaces within office buildings, and used 300 N LaSalle. Being together—as citizens, colleagues, in person and virtually— is already shaping the next wave of workplace design, and it will grow to exemplify the new normal. Additionally, office buildings will do more to give back to their communities, understanding their position as one piece of the woven fabric of the city. As a result of this, building amenities, which are so often spread out from the rooftop to the basement, have the powerful potential to shift to lower levels to increase their engagement with the public sphere. Inspired by the ancient Greek “assembly place,” Vertical Agora layers public incubator space within the lower floors of a riverfront high rise office tower, transitioning into co-working and meeting spaces on top.

A street-grade plaza connects sectionally to the Chicago Riverwalk with attractions for the public on a lower level, including market kiosks for local vendors. The plaza slopes into the water, allowing watercraft to dock, and providing dynamic scenery of people, their urban canvas, and nature. The second floor contains exhibition space for community art projects, a gym to promote physical wellness, and conferencing programs to support the work happening in the tower above. Above them are two floors of flexible, reconfigurable co-working space where tenants can offer their staff a drop-in work area, and individuals can rent out desks as needed.