Promenade Apartment
This renovation combines a full floor within Mies van der Rohe’s Commonwealth Promenade, a pair of landmark residential towers built in 1957. The design transforms the original layout of small apartments to create a continuous living space with a 150’ long panorama of floor-to-ceiling windows. Mies’s artfully designed curtain wall becomes the primary interior element, framing views of the cityscape and Lake Michigan, and infusing the space with shifting atmospheres of daylight and shadow. The design relates to and complements this Meisian context with straightforward material expressions, refined detailing and exacting craftmanship.
The living space stretches along the entire south-facing elevation, varying dimension and depth to accommodate different uses and activities, and to create specific relationships to light and view. The kitchen and dining room were relocated towards the south elevation, while the entry hall, media room and wet bar were pulled deeper into the apartment to create contrasting, darker atmospheres. A more private wing of the apartment was organized along the north elevation, which includes the primary suite, guest bedrooms, a gym, and a guest apartment suite.
The apartment’s restrained vocabulary of white walls and columns is punctuated by elements of wood, stone and metal. The kitchen is defined by a sculptural island and seating area set against a backdrop of lacquered cabinets and back-painted etched glass. A horizontal storage element transitions into floating open shelves that divide the kitchen from the bar area, which contrasts the kitchen’s lightness with a palette of dark stained wood and brushed stainless steel. The southeast corner of the living space is anchored by custom millwork executed in variations of white oak. The media room and home office are unified in the interplay between rift-sawn wood veneer and solid wood profiles.