The Sheridan Northside | Kyle MertensMeyer

"A new project north of downtown Chicago near Wrigley Field and the Graceland Cemetery. The design team was inspired to reflect on the work of those designers who are laid at rest at the nearby cemetery."

Down the road from our project site is the Wrigley Field, home to the famous Chicago Cubs and the infamous "Big Green." Many Chicago residents would say that Wrigley Feild is the most famous place on the north side of Chicago; however, the Graceland Cemetary next door might hold more intrigue, specifically for architects and planners. As one of the most notable burial sites, the Graceland Cemetery is home to many great master architects who practiced in Chicago, including William Le Baron Jenney, Daniel Burnham, John Wellborn Root, Louis Sullivan, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Bruce Goff, and Walter Netsch. 

Graceland has a reputation in Chicago as being an architect's pilgrimage due to the beautiful mausoleums such as the Carrie Eliza Getty Tomb and Martin Ryerson Tomb, which were both designed by Louis Sullivan. Inspired by these great masters, we sought to create a building that would reflect the phases or time that these masters represent. 

The site photos, taken by drone, courtesy of our client Jones Lang LaSalle, reveal a clear picture of the strong dialogue between the past and the present. This inspired us to explore the layers and patterns of bricks used in early skyscrapers and their relationship to the structural steel frame that emerged in the Modern Era. This was when the brick and ornamentation of the Beaux-Arts have stripped away. To emulate the movement and flow of time, edges and corners of the building are exposed, revealing underneath the corten steel details. As the facade moves upwards in elevation, it separates, while the form and brick simplify in appearance. 

The client's functional program requirements called for commercial uses such as a cafe and doctor's offices on the ground floor with 80 residential units on the floors above. The roof deck of the building has a private communal seating arrangement and a community table. In addition, the rooftop farming boxes allow for a shared urban harvest. Views from the rooftop are beautiful, with the Graceland Cemetery Trees and towers within the Chicago Loop seen in the distance. 

A design team wished to connect the building to Graceland Park through a visual dialog using integrated planting within the facade and rooftop. As layers of the building are removed to reveal the steel structural framing beneath, gardens and planting are embedded into the window frames. This planting creates a connection back to the green of Graceland Park and a beautiful environment for the building tenants and inhabitants.