Using 80-ksi steel in upper perimeter columns—a first in the U.S.—helped the design team reduce the total steel by almost 20% for 320 S. Canal, a 51-floor office tower under construction in Chicago's Loop. The stronger but smaller elements allowed developer-owner Riverside Investment and Development to offer more open space on upper floors for tenants such as the building's incoming anchor, BMO.

Architect Goettsch Partners, structural engineer Magnusson Klemencic Associates and steel fabricator Zalk Josephs previously used 70-ksi steel in the perimeter columns of another project in Chicago, 150 N. Riverside, also a first when it was built in 2016. Steel erector Chicago Steel put the first 80-ksi members in place in late October, working for general contractor Clark Construction.