Reconstruction of an apartment in the house of John Hancock in Chicago

Good design is often as much about what an architect removes from a space as what is added. This concept played an important role for Volodymyr Radutny, the director Volodymyr Radutny architects—approach to remodel an 1,800-square-foot condominium on the 84th floor of Chicago’s iconic John Hancock Center (now renamed 875 North Michigan Avenue).

The architect’s primary goals included revealing the skyline views and structural steel beams by removing multiple walls and layers of material obscuring the building’s signature transverse bracing.

Existing floor plan — The existing floor plan created a dark enclosed space that seemed to hide the iconic site rather than accentuate it

Floor plan — The new floor plan opens up the space by removing most walls and creating clear spaces through visual elements and materials, including a dropped ceiling and exposed steel beams

The the project came from one of the few cold calls Radutny‘s ever received. Client and his husband knew works of the architect, including other elements of the buildingand thought Radutny can solve a lot questions within the existing space.

“INWe were surprised at how compartmentalized and dark the block seemed,” Radutny says about his initial pass with the client. “deep trace the built structure and low ceilings severely limit exterior views and natural light. EtcThe main feature of the apartment—steel crosses—was hidden under a thick layer of fireproof material and plasterboard.»

Although arch completed other projects in the building, Radutny took a unique approach developing a complete design after demo The entire interior was gutted around the perimeter— including a many fight against asbestos– to reveal buildings shared access ventilation, plumbing and electrical wiringg stacks, together with any other existing restrictions that should be considered.

V-shaped steel fasteners are covered with plasterboard in a carpeted apartment — Segments of the building’s prominent steel cross braces were buried so deeply under drywall and fireproofing that they blocked much of the natural light and views from the window walls, rendering those windows inaccessible.

“After demowe realized that we can get quite a lot of square meters by building closer and closer to the infrastructure,” Radutny says “Therefore, we carved on the walls and ceiling where it made sense instead of covering it all in a single flat plane.”

Cooperation with an experienced contractor

Radutny wanted take on this project with the contractor he worked from before and, most importantly, someone who understands architecture. Matt Harder there is a co–founder local design–construction firm Harder Brothers Construction and design and happens to be one of the architect’s best friends. Customers bought advantages lead More difficult onto the team from the very beginning.

“(Harder) could study a detail carefully and find a creative way to do it,” says Radutny. “We’ve seen a few times that our designs don’t turn out the way we envisioned, so working with someone who’s a friend and really understands design has given us an opportunity to figure out how to fix it.”

One example of Harder’s contribution was the enclosing of the master bedroom. To maximize the space, Radutny’s design pulls partitions away from the perimeter of the walls and ceiling. This technique allows light to penetrate through a long, narrow trace and creates visual continuity.

The design team studied the views from around the space and used a curved wall topped by a lowered platform to enclose the bedroom.

As one enters the block, this wall is immediately to the right, and the curve draws their line of sight to the expanse of windows and views of the horizon.

The dropped ceiling allows natural light to flood into the interior living spaces, but when they started enclosing the wall, Harder felt that the typical drywall formation was “clunky.” Instead, he suggested machining a steel plate for a slimmer profile that still softens sound transfer.

GIF-condomium kitchen with a movable partition curtain — The use of bright, bright white curtains to divide the space serves many purposes, including softening the live acoustics, creating flexibility in the open spaces and softening the hard edges of the steel beams. White curtains also add a touch of drama to the space.

Fflexible Ffloor Pfieldning

“Khto get the light as deep as possiblee to unity?” “Hoh maybe residents see full length space from inside?” These were the questions Radutny worked to respond trOh in design which Harder did.

These questions coincide with those of an architect comprehensive philosophy, which heatlines from the world of art. It technique called pphenomenal transparency—the visual movement in space without physical continuity.

Thursdaythere are approach was ideal for ththere are long space it was is limited receiving natural light from the only source. Details is used What reinforce this concept include curved wall, dropped ceiling, mostly open floor plan and solid works to order built in.

Even wnut used to end in office walls was careful in detail runs with grain horizoncount portray a like endless continuation of movement from end to end and one surface to anothers Orientation of all doors along the inner back wall towards the window wall (and clarifying sandblasted glass for their) also increases phenomenal transparency designer thread.

“One main design goal this approach helped us achieve was obtaining shadows and the play of light throughout the space as the position of the sun changes throughout the day,» Radutny says.

Contemporary kitchen with walnut built-in cabinets and black steel running through — Knowing they couldn’t move any of the utilities, the team turned them into a feature instead of digging into walls that would take up precious square footage. This is another area where the project won because the architect and contractor understood each other. Radutny attributes his builder’s excellent communication skills to finding the right person to understand the nuances and intricacies of cutting the matte black countertops that fit snugly against the round pipes.

Compiled by Ddesigning

Insert necessary home elements in narrowed space almost 1000 legs in air requires a delicate plan What does not distract from panoramic views or feel overwhelmed historical building massive steel supports.

Radutny focused on reducing and improving every aspect design from materials to color palette and furniture to lighting Steel beams painted black to minimize them mass. They servicesd as a design functionto create a dialogue between adjacent ones roomsand add to space holistic visual continuity.

living room with black floating shelves — The exterior steel support beams are encased in plasterboard to further emphasize the exposed steel and reinforce the design theme of visual continuity by blending with the ceiling planes. The floating black shelves inside the walnut cabinet wall align perfectly with the width of the beam, promoting a continuous flow of details.

living room with eames chair, built-in wardrobes and views of chicago — Curtains close off both the master bedroom and a flexible space that doubles as a study and guest room thanks to a Murphy bed hidden in the closet wall. White reflective cabinets also run under the window wall to reflect natural light into the room and hide the heating/cooling units. As residents approach the windows, the trim also reflects the skyline.

As far as Radutny knows, no other residential building has replaced the thick layers of asbestos and drywall that concealed the steel with more modern fireproofing. (One of the building’s commercial spaces did, but these codes are very different.)

Approval of the plan to expose the metal structures required multiple permits, as the building lacks a sprinkler system, and city planners were understandably cautious. The team hired a fire safety consultant, who first determined the exact type of steel and then calculated how much intumescent paint would need to be applied—at specified layer thicknesses—to protect the structural beams.

In addition to the beams on the windows, the team decided to emphasize the continuation of the steel frame of the block in some places, while hiding it in others.

a living room with steel beams crossing the ceiling — The steel bracing is a visual and tactile element that stretches through the living space, bringing the exoskeleton framework of the building inside.

windows overlooking Chicago — The block’s extreme height means it may be sunny outside the windows but cloudy on the streets 84 floors below — or vice versa. The team used these types of exterior atmospheric changes, the city skyline and skyline as design elements.

Open cross braces connect to the central beam of the ceiling, which then curves down, dividing the kitchen cabinet wall in half. Exposed steel here creates a textural partition between open public spaces. There are two other side beams, but the architect decided to sheathe them with plasterboard.

“Understanding how you can improve the composition of the pieces is especially important in a small space like this so that they become less of a distraction from the larger goals, which are often about light and scenery,” says Radutny.

Architect: Volodymyr Radutny ArchitectsChicago

General Contractor, Joiner: Built and designed by Harder BrothersChicago

Photos: Adrian Williams