Montgomery Ward Loft
This renovation within Chicago’s historic Montgomery Ward building explores the dialogue between minimalist architecture and rich material expression, weaving together the apartment’s spatial clarity with the owner's curated collection of contemporary art, antiques, and midcentury modern furniture. The main living space unfolds as a single, expansive volume oriented toward a sweeping terrace, its ceiling plane subtly stepping upward to meet a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows. The articulation of the building’s structural grid divides the interior living space into different activities and uses. Large openings between rooms extend to the ceiling, and are positioned to emphasize orientation and passage, and to frame specific views between rooms.
The minimalism of the spatial enclosure is contrasted by dramatic material inflections. Natural stone slabs, selected for their painterly qualities, are used throughout the apartment. A monolithic porcelain kitchen defines the north wall of the living space, and frames a mural-like installation of book-matched marble. In the sitting area, stacked slabs of vein-cut stone create a subtle, sculptural recess, while the primary bath is fully wrapped in richly figured green-and-black marble, immersing the room in texture and color.
Millwork elements blur the boundary between architecture and furniture. In the home office, oxidized oak cabinetry complements a live-edge antique desk, concealing equipment behind panels of ribbed solid wood. At the entry, a sculptural lighting installation and custom console table frame the sitting area, introducing the sinuous and organic forms that reappear throughout the apartment’s collection of midcentury and contemporary furnishings. Across every scale—from object to architecture—the project is a celebration of material richness, artisanal craft, and the continual dialogue between restraint and expression.
Publications
Thomas Connors. “The Chicago Accord” Aspire Home and Design, Fall 2024
J.P. Anderson. “Lofty Ambitions” Modern Luxury Interiors, Volume 1, 2025
Chris van Uffelen. Contemporary Interior Design. Braun Publishing AG (forthcoming)