Upstaging Adler & Sullivan's rock-solid Auditorium Building in downtown Chicago is a glassy new landmark for Roosevelt University. The school's “vertical campus,” set to open next March, has faced difficult obstacles—tight laydown and delivery zones, delicate underground work, tough hoisting logistics, to name a few—but the building team is handily making the grade on the $118-million project.
The first challenge to overcome had to do with fire safety. In 2004 the city adopted a new code requiring pre-1975 high-rises to be equipped with automatic sprinklers. That meant Roosevelt University would have to retrofit its 19-story Herman Crown Center, a residence hall built in 1970. The school had a big decision to make: modernize or rebuild.