Related Midwest completed the crown installation for the North Tower of 400 Lake Shore Drive in downtown Chicago.
The tower’s 72-story, 857-foot tiered exterior is now complete with its distinctive bay-window glass curtain wall, including the 83-foot architectural apex, marking the final milestone in exterior construction. Co-built by LR Contracting and BOWA Construction and slated to deliver in spring 2027, the high-rise will deliver 635 rental apartments — 127 of which will be set aside as affordable housing — to one of the city’s most prominent waterfront sites, where Lake Michigan meets the Chicago River in the Streeterville neighborhood.
400 Lake Shore Drive was designed by the late David Childs and the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). Its two high-rises feature distinctive waterfall profiles, with outdoor terraces defining a series of setbacks. Set at an angle to each other, the towers preserve sightlines for residents while forming a dynamic new gateway to the city. Their exteriors draw on Chicago’s architectural heritage, including a reimagined Chicago bay window and metal detailing that evokes the rippling surface of Lake Michigan.
The North Tower’s design treats architecture and structural engineering as a single system. Its terraces are deliberately staggered along the north and south faces to disrupt airflow and prevent pressure buildup at one of the city’s most wind-exposed sites. A continuous outrigger wall system reinforces this strategy, running from the foundation through level 44 and capped by belt walls at levels 44 and 72, requiring 400 cubic yards of concrete and 150,000 pounds of rebar to complete. The result is exceptional wind performance achieved without mechanical dampers or open blow-through floors. Because the engineering is fully integrated into the building’s form, the North Tower achieves its wind resilience invisibly, yielding an uninterrupted facade and a skyline profile that is clean, continuous and poised to become the defining gateway to the city from the lake.
