The Bernardin Apartment
European Charm Fills Chicago Apartment Tower

by Paula Widholm

Just a few blocks west of Chicago's Water Tower, coffee shops and bric-a-brac stores squeeze into red brick three-flats while five-star restaurants and hotels fill new steel and glass skyscrapers.

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Now, passersby in the bustling area will likely pause to enjoy the Old World European charm exuding from The Bernardin, a 25-story apartment building.

Chicago-based W.E. O'Neil Construction Co., the general contractor, has staged completions throughout the summer with the first turnover June 1 and the last one Aug. 30. Construction costs total $40 million.

As of early May, 35 of the 171 apartments have been rented, site unseen.

A soft caramel-peach stone base will surround first-floor retail. Wrapping floors two to five, the creamy color continues with windows flanked by burgundy shutters and anchored by planter boxes - all disguising a 201-vehicle parking garage.

From ground level through the fifth floor, flowers and plants drooping out of 112 ornamental flower boxes will soften the facades on Wabash and Chicago avenues.

Filling the 20,000 sq. ft. of ground-level retail will be a bank, a White Hen, a Houlihans restaurant and dry cleaners. Floors six through 24 will contain 168 studio, one-bedroom, one-bedroom-plus-den and two-bedroom apartments.

Topping the tower will be three 4,600-sq.-ft. penthouses renting for $5,300 a month.

The sixth floor, which houses extravagant amenities, is the transfer floor separating parking from the apartment tower.

The name for the building - The Bernardin - came with permission from the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin's family in his honor. The Diocesan Complex and Holy Name Cathedral are also located across Wabash Avenue. From 1982 until his death in 1996, the cardinal led 2.3 million Catholics in 378 parishes in the Chicago area, the second largest flock in the United States.

Demolition of the site's former three-story building began in July 2003 and construction started five months later.

The entire 325,000-sq.-ft. building was constructed with cast-in-place concrete. The foundation system consists of sheeting and about 80 caissons at a depth of 90 ft.

A precast façade containing three shades of yellow-peach was attached to the first five floors while the remainder of the building's concrete will be painted to match.

Details, Details

Most condo and apartment towers are devoid of architectural detail, and efforts to hide the parking levels are often simple sheer walls, according to Greg Gorski, project designer for Chicago-based Antunovich Associates, the lead architect. However, The Bernardin goes to great lengths to create an intimate pedestrian space.

"We tried to give it a lot of scale and detail," he said. "The pedestrian sees and recognizes the building whether they're three blocks or 30 ft. away. There's something engaging to everybody."

The European streetscape includes arches, shutters, heads, sills and thick cornices in bold, warm shades of pale peach. The metal shutters, window mullions and large canvas awnings are burgundy. Huge, extravagant light fixtures and curvy Juliet railings also enhance the outdoor ambiance. The burgundy "shutters" are actually garage louvers to help ventilate the parking garage.

"There's not another building in Chicago that has that kind of warm peachiness to it," Gorski said. "It was the desire of the owner (Chicago-based McCaffery Interests) to have colorful warm tones from the outside to the inside."

While The Bernardin has the same kind of structure and building conventions of many similar condo and apartment buildings, design details are at a higher level. "This project shows the amount of detail that can be applied to these buildings to create something other than a vanilla box," Gorski said.

Most buildings don't offer these façade details because of their associated costs. Also, most owners and architects take a more modern approach to design, Gorski said. "We're not into cold modern," he added. "We're into warm, traditional, people-friendly buildings."

However, creating this inviting streetscape didn't come easy. "We pushed the precaster pretty far in terms of coloration, shapes, joint work and specialty form work," Gorski said.

Manufactured at Gate Precast's plant in Winchester, Ky., the mix of precast materials had to support granite bases, architectural louvers, Juliet balconies and gigantic light fixtures. Therefore, Gate Precast had to take into account every junction box and specialty connection.

Opulent Interior

The intimate exterior also continues on the inside.

On Friday afternoons, The Bernardin plans to host wine and cheese parties in the opulent first-floor lounge that will boast a stonework fireplace mantel imported from Italy, a hand-made rug from Thailand and a mahogany wood beamed ceiling.

Warm colors, such as wine and marine blue, abound in the common areas and details such as elevator doors etched in brass aren't overlooked.

"It's a higher-end owner with higher-end expectations," said Hans Thilenius, O'Neil senior project manager.

McCaffery Interests has a track record of developing sophisticated venues such as art museums, theaters and boutique hotels. Earlier this decade,

McCaffery developed the distinctive Hotel Burnham about a mile south of The Bernardin at State and Washington streets.

The Bernardin's sixth floor houses a conference room, billiard room with a plasma screen, kitchen buffet, business center with Internet connections and pilates studio with hanging TVs. Glass doors lead to an outdoor oasis where a stone-paved deck will surround a 4-ft.-deep lap pool and a 14-ft.-diameter hot tub. The terrace will also feature an outdoor fireplace, gas grill, cabana, cedar trellis, lush landscaping and serpentine seating areas.

"Procuring these level of finishes and building the pool took some time and money," Thilenius said. "The owner has high expectations of high-quality work."

Each floor, from levels seven through 24, contains nine apartments, and the 25th floor has three penthouses. The apartments feature large windows; berber-style carpeting; balconies and walk-in closets; tiled kitchens and baths; a granite kitchen island, dishwasher, disposal and microwave; and a full-size, stackable washer/dryer.

Walls in the units are white with an accent color such as slate or mustard on one kitchen wall. Ceiling heights are 8 ft. high. Two-bedroom, two-bath apartments rent for $2,800 per month.

To keep noise out, O'Neil used heavy-duty commercials windows with a thermal and 100 percent vapor barrier. Sound-rated, 56-vat insulation was used in the drywall partitions between units and the corridors.

The apartments' balcony rails are made out of 50 KSI high-strength steel. "It gives a streamlined look with the structural integrity," Thilenius said.

A painted ornamental metal, standing-seam roof will top the tower. The penthouses with their own private outdoor terraces occupy the north half of the roof. The mechanical units are hid inside the structure of the building on the south half of the roof.