Winners Named in Design Competition Re-envisioning Chicago's Thompson Center

15 September 2021 | Chicago, United States

Chicago's Thompson Center is threatened with demolition after the city put it up for sale. "Chicago (ILL) Downtown, James R. Thompson Center JRTC, 1985" by (vincent desjardins) is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Three winners have been named in the 2021 Chicago Prize Competition, which sought new visions for the James R. Thompson Center, an iconic 17-story civic space designed by Helmut Jahn. It was built in 1984 and recently put up for sale by the State of Illinois.

The speculative ideas competition selected a vertical waterpark and hotel design from Perkins and Will, a school design from Solomon Cordwell Buenz, and a preservation/adaptive reuse design from Eastman Lee as the winners, with four additional designs earning honorable mentions. In total there were 59 entries from five countries.

Featured Buildings

James R. Thompson Center

Public Pool

Other Referenced Buildings

Public Pool

CTBUH Member Companies
(showing member level)

KONE

JAHN

Commenting on its design, Perkins and Will said the existing building’s glazing is known to have caused excessive heat gain. Their design embraces this effect, creating a greenhouse-like waterpark with gardens on every level. The design from Eastman Lee also addresses the envelope, but instead proposes a new thermal envelope offset inboard from the existing curtain wall, thereby preserving the building’s aesthetic.

Ahead of an early November public forum discussing the future of the Thompson Center, the winning designs are viewable at a pop-up exhibit at the Chicago Architecture Center.

For more on this story, go to the Chicago Architectural Club.