800 W. Fulton

“There is a perfect synthesis, response, and dialogue between the architecture and the lighting design. It [is] a really successful collaboration.” —Andrew Franz, AIA

The industrial roots of Chicago’s Fulton Market District offered plenty of inspiration for the brick- and steel-forward design of 800 W. Fulton, a new mixed-use building by locally headquartered SOM. Masterminded by fellow Chicagoans at Schuler Shook, the structure’s lighting scheme responds in kind, calling on a medley of strategies to complement SOM’s carefully implemented material palette and architecture. In the pendant-lit lobby, for instance, grazers help celebrate the height of the nearly 40-foot ceiling and draw attention to the detailing on the back wall, where bricks jut out to form the building’s address number. Meanwhile, concealed uplights exude a soft glow beneath the lobby’s concrete mezzanine, accessed by a cantilevered staircase.

Schuler Shook lent its lighting expertise to other parts of the building, too, including the 18th floor—outfitted with a bar, a lounge, a game room, and a planter-filled terrace boasting skyline views. The firm’s plan for the terrace is especially thoughtful, with soft pathlights providing needed illumination while allowing the panoramas to be the true star of the show.

PROJECT CREDITS
Project Name: 800 W. Fulton
Location: Chicago
Client/Owner: Thor Equities
Lighting Designer: Schuler Shook
Architect: SOM
Landscape Architect: Omni Ecosystems

Project Size: 60,000 square feet
Lighting Cost: approx. $600,000 (lighting fixtures & controls only)
Watts per Square Foot: less than 0.79 W/SF overall
Code Compliance: IECC 2018
Lighting Product Manufacturers: i2 Systems; Gotham Lighting; Q-Tran; Vode Lighting; USAI Lighting; Axis Lighting; Luke Lamp Co.; Lumenpulse; Tech Lighting; Folio; MP Lighting; Delta Light; Lighting Services Inc.; Lutron

This article first appeared in the January/Febuary 2023 issue of ARCHITECT.