We transformed an empty office building originally designed in the late 1980s by Dirk Lohan, Mies van der Rohe’s grandson, on a suburban site northwest of Chicago. With the goal of bringing urban amenities to vacant corporate campuses, Somerset Development asked us to convert the former headquarters of Ameritech from a single-tenant building to a mixed-use complex featuring offices, conference facilities, restaurants, and retail uses. Collaborating with Dirk Lohan of Wight & Company and NPZ Studio, we simplified and modernized the original building’s post-modern details to appeal to contemporary tenants and the diverse use groups who will work in and visit the new development.
The transformation of the former telecommunications company’s research facility into Bell Works Chicagoland replicates the success of our adaptive reuse of the former Bell Laboratories headquarters in Holmdel, New Jersey, which was also spearheaded by Somerset Development. Bell Works Chicagoland now comprises a total of 1.2 million square feet of office space, 80,000 square feet of conference facilities, and 60,000 square feet of retail.