The recently opened 198-unit Optima Lakeview luxury rental apartment building in Chicago is bursting with amenities such as the region’s first year-round rooftop pool, contact-free in-home package delivery, housekeeping services, on-site room service, fitness programming, and a virtual personal assistant. Emphasizing wellness and outdoor space, Optima designed the building with setbacks providing multiple residences with private outdoor landscaped terraces, complete with trees, built-in grills, and fire pits. Terraces range from 67 sf to about 1,600 sf.
Most shared amenities are connected by the seven-story atrium running through the building’s core that is topped by a skylight. Natural light floods this space including strategically placed planters on various floors surrounding the atrium that will form a hanging garden when the plants mature.
A rooftop sky deck offering views of Lake Michigan, Wrigley Field, and the Chicago skyline is equipped with fire tables and heaters suitable for the city’s colder climate. The 35-by-25-foot rooftop pool will stay heated and swimmable year-round. Residents can use the rooftop’s spa, theater, lounge seating, and a dozen grills and kitchen stations. The rooftop also includes a glass-enclosed party room appointed with TV, various seating arrangements, and a full chef’s kitchen. Residents’ pets can enjoy the outdoors in the building’s 2,000 sf heated dog park.
An indoor basketball/pickleball court, sports lounge and golf simulator are all located near the main entrance and are flanked by street-level windows. Upstairs, residents have access to a fitness center with state-of-the-art equipment, a yoga/stretching room, sauna, pet spa, and a children’s play area with an emphasis on active gross motor play. Additionally, a residents’ club, game room, and chef’s kitchen provide space for parties and events.
Those working from home have access to two wired conference spaces and a business center, along with several indoor and outdoor seating areas. Multiple technology providers offer residents with choice for digital connectivity. The building recently became the first North American residential development to earn WiredScore Gold Rating for Digital Connectivity.
The building’s modern exterior uses a sophisticated palette of warm-toned exterior materials, including transparent bronze glass and rich, dark brick that complements the architecture of the surrounding neighborhood. One-, two- and three-bedroom units come with high-end finishes and smart home technology. Private balconies or terraces are per plan.
Units average 1,053 sf with enough space to give residents flexibility to dedicate space for a home office, bar, children’s play area or pet area. Custom wardrobes with built-in shelves and drawers for clothes and storage convey more natural light to the interior. Rents start at $2,500 per month.
On the building team:
Owner and/or developer: Optima, Inc.
Design architect: David Hovey Sr., FAIA, CEO and Founder of Optima, Inc.
Architect of record: David Hovey Sr., FAIA, CEO and Founder of Optima, Inc.
MEP engineer: F.E. Moran (HVAC); IMEG (Electric); Warren F. Thomas Plumbing (Plumbing)
Structural engineer: WSP USA
General contractor/construction manager: Optima, Inc./Matt Cison & Mike Schwerzler
Related Stories
| Jan 4, 2011
California buildings: now even more efficient
New buildings in California must now be more sustainable under the state’s Green Building Standards Code, which took effect with the new year. CALGreen, the first statewide green building code in the country, requires new buildings to be more energy efficient, use less water, and emit fewer pollutants, among many other requirements. And they have the potential to affect LEED ratings.
| Jan 4, 2011
Grubb & Ellis predicts commercial real estate recovery
Grubb & Ellis Company, a leading real estate services and investment firm, released its 2011 Real Estate Forecast, which foresees the start of a slow recovery in the leasing market for all property types in the coming year.
| Jan 4, 2011
Furniture Sustainability Standard - Approved by ANSI and Released for Distribution
BIFMA International recently announced formal American National Standards Institute (ANSI) approval and release of the ANSI/BIFMA e3-2010 Furniture Sustainability Standard. The e3 standard represents a structured methodology to evaluate the "sustainable" attributes of furniture products and constitutes the technical criteria of the level product certification program.
| Dec 20, 2010
Architect Adrian D. Smith on zero-energy cities, new technologies, and high density.
Adrian D. Smith, FAIA, RIBA, is co-founder (with Gordon Gill) of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, Chicago. Previously, he was a design partner in the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (1980-2003) and a consulting design partner from 2004 to 2006. His landmark structures include the Jin Mao Tower (Shanghai), Rowes Wharf (Boston), and Burj Khalifa (Dubai, U.A.E.), the world’s tallest structure. He recently collaborated with Gordon Gill to design the world’s first net-zero-energy skyscraper, Pearl River Tower, now nearing completion in Guangzhou, China. This account is based on his recent remarks at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
| Dec 17, 2010
Gemstone-inspired design earns India’s first LEED Gold for a hotel
The Park Hotel Hyderabad in Hyderabad, India, was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to combine inspirations from the region’s jewelry-making traditions with sustainable elements.
| Dec 17, 2010
Sam Houston State arts programs expand into new performance center
Theater, music, and dance programs at Sam Houston State University have a new venue in the 101,945-sf, $38.5 million James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Arts Center. WHR Architects, Houston, designed the new center to connect two existing buildings at the Huntsville, Texas, campus.
| Dec 17, 2010
Subway entrance designed to exude Hollywood charm
The Hollywood/Vine Metro portal and public plaza in Los Angeles provides an entrance to the Red Line subway and the W Hollywood Hotel. Local architect Rios Clementi Hale Studio designed the portal and plaza to flow with the landmark theaters and plazas that surround it.
| Dec 17, 2010
New engineering building goes for net-zero energy
A new $90 million, 250,000-sf classroom and laboratory facility with a 450-seat auditorium for the College of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign is aiming for LEED Platinum.
| Dec 17, 2010
Toronto church converted for condos and shopping
Reserve Properties is transforming a 20th-century church into Bellefair Kew Beach Residences, a residential/retail complex in The Beach neighborhood of Toronto. Local architecture firm RAWdesign adapted the late Gothic-style church into a five-story condominium with 23 one- and two-bedroom units, including two-story penthouse suites. Six three-story townhouses also will be incorporated. The project will afford residents views of nearby Kew Gardens and Lake Ontario. One façade of the church was updated for retail shops.
| Dec 17, 2010
Cladding Do’s and Don’ts
A veteran structural engineer offers expert advice on how to avoid problems with stone cladding and glass/aluminum cladding systems.
