Aqua Update

It seems like ages since I've posted about Studio Gang's exciting Aqua project, a hotel/residential high-rise in the Lakeshore East development in Chicago. So it was great surprise to see some updated images in an architectureyp post, taken from Studio Gang's web site.


[Rendering looking west across the Park at Lakeshore East | image source]

This view is the first I've seen that illustrates the entry from Columbus Avenue, with a new road (interactive site plan of Lakeshore East) providing access to the development:

[Rendering looking SE | image source]

This close-up shows that all-too-important element, the guardrails:

[Close-up rendering showing railings | image source]

I'm guessing from the timestamp below that these construction photos are all from last month, showing about ten floor of the hotel poured, and a floor of window wall already installed:

[Construction shot | image source]

The underside of the concrete slabs is another important facet of the project, one more dependent upon the quality of construction than the design:

[Construction shot | image source]

A cool shot in a winter storm:

[Construction shot | image source]

I'm hoping that Studio Gang continues to post updated images on their web site, for those of us unable to track Aqua's progress in person. It's one of the most unique American high-rises to come along in a while, and the only one to get me excited about a building type (the skyscraper) that I usually don't care too much about.