CannonDesign: LEED Platinum interiors at the University of Chicago

The university's Harper Court is an example of mixed-use, sustainable development.

By CannonDesign April 29, 2014

Harper Court is a mixed-use development that anchors the 53rd Street Corridor, a nationally recognized exemplar of sustainable urban development within a university context. Encompassing 1.1 million square feet, Harper Court includes a 12-story office tower, a 130-room hotel, a 31,500-square-foot fitness center, and nearly 74,000 square feet of retail space. Harper Court is the first project of its kind to achieve LEED certification under four different rating systems: LEED-ND Gold certification for the entire development, LEED-CS Gold certification for the office tower, LEED-NC Gold certification for the hotel, and LEED-CI Platinum certification for the interior build-out of the University of Chicago’s offices.

By creating a daytime population of 500 employees, the University of Chicago administrative offices have played a critical role in the redevelopment’s success. To achieve and exceed the original LEED Gold certification goal on a tight budget, the project team sought out budget savings in all areas of the project’s design and construction, and recommended glass-fronted perimeter offices to provide staff with views of the Chicago skyline and a sense of openness and community.

This article originally appeared on CannonDesign’s Website

-Edited by Jessica DuBois-Maahs, associate content manager, CFE Media, jdmaahs [a] cfemedia.com