Chicago Temple Building

The Chicago Temple Building is a historic neo-gothic skyscraper church located in downtown Chicago. At 23 stories high, it was the tallest building in Chicago at the time of its completion in 1924, and it is still the tallest church building in the world. In 2013-15 I was the lead architect on the first major building renovation since air handling was installed.

Project goals were to extend the useful life of this historic piece of built infrastructure, bring it into compliance with Chicago's Life Safety Ordinance for high-rise buildings, and add value to tenant spaces for continued financial viability of the rental space.

In the early planning stages, I worked closely with ownership to establish priorities for the financial success and physical resiliency of the building, and to reconcile these goals with their budget. To develop this plan I then led a team of architects, engineers, and contractors to investigate the tangled web of century-old building infrastructure and to design replacement systems. Our integrated design-build team utilized Building Information Modelling to identify potential conflicts and solve problems throughout the process. I also used this digital model to plan and illustrate the phased construction process, which was completed in 2016 with the building still occupied.

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Chicago Cultural Center Life Safety Upgrades