Building a New Spertus
Ten-story glass façade of Spertus Institute’s new Michigan Avenue facility offers a window into world of Jewish learning and culture.
The stunning ten-story faceted window wall that forms the façade of the new Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, designed by Krueck & Sexton Architects, will be a direct expression of the mission and values of this prestigious organization, offering a literal “window” into the world of Jewish learning and culture. The transparent façade, to be built from 726 windows in 556 different shapes, will be installed beginning in February (weather permitting). A November opening is expected for the new 155,000-square-foot Spertus facility, currently under construction at 610 S. Michigan Avenue in Chicago.
“Lifelong learning is central to the Jewish experience, and Spertus welcomes all who are eager to learn, whatever their background. The glass façade expertly communicates this by providing a physical invitation to come inside and engage in the educational and cultural programming that Spertus offers,” explained Dr. Howard A. Sulkin, President, Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies. “Like the multifaceted programming inside, the innovative architecture of this new facility is a gift to the people of Chicago.”
Architectural/Historical Significance
With few exceptions, the historic South Michigan Avenue streetwall is composed of buildings with private uses, so the public cannot easily enjoy the extraordinary views of Grant Park and Lake Michigan available from these buildings. By its transparency, the Spertus façade announces the accessible and public nature of Spertus. Furthering this is the manner in which the Spertus façade emerges from the solidity of the predominately masonry-faced buildings surrounding it. The façade creates an opening in the scale of the streetwall, beckoning visitors to enter and explore the rich variety of offerings within.
View from the 4th floor of the new facility.
Photo by Andreas Sosnowski
The new Spertus facility fills one of the last open spaces on this great street—directly facing Grant Park. Like the surrounding buildings, many constructed in the period of tremendous architectural innovation that followed the Chicago fire, this building is forward-looking in its design and use of materials, while maintaining respect for its important setting. The stone, brick, and terracotta grid of the streetwall will tightly frame the narrow glass façade, and it is this dynamic that compels the folding and movement of the glass. At the same time, the average size of each of the façade's individual panes of glass is consistent with the standard size of the windows in the buildings up and down Michigan Avenue.
“Like the bays of its 19th- and 20th-century neighbors, the facets that create the façade’s dynamic crystalline form allow light to extend into the narrow building, while expanding the views enjoyed from inside. Today's technology permits these triangulated glass facets to be more spatial than the bay windows of earlier periods. The composition of the Spertus façade will change depending on the sun’s position, with facets simultaneously transparent, reflective, translucent, and opaque. When panels reflect, they will mirror the building’s magnificent setting of sky, sun, and the greenery of Grant Park. At night, the building’s interior light will emit a warm glow,” offered Mark Sexton, FAIA, who, with Ronald Krueck, FAIA, is principal of the award-winning Chicago firm, Krueck & Sexton Architects.
This emphasis on light echoes the Spertus logo, a flame accompanied by the biblical phrase yehi or, “let there be light”, symbolizing both physical light and the light of learning.
A recessed entry space will create welcoming protection at the street level. Rather than a traditional cornice, the top of the Spertus façade extends skyward, representing that the pursuit of understanding is infinite.
Technology and Design
The geometry of the façade is unique because the surface is constantly tilting in three dimensions, resulting in individual units of glass that are parallelograms rather than rectangles. Only recently has it become possible to delineate and engineer a shape with the complexity of this wall.
Advancements in material engineering and research allow an insulated glass unit and a 1" silicone joint to be the only two components keeping wind and moisture from entering the building. The lightness of the wall and absolute minimal use of materials offer great efficiency and sustainability. A wall mock-up was tested for leakage while subjected to wind pressure of 47 lbs. per square foot and wind speed of 136 miles per hour at Construction Consulting Laboratory in Texas in the spring of 2006. The mock-up passed without any leaks on the first attempt, “something that rarely happens,” added Sexton.
Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies Glass Façade Technical Details
• Window Wall Size
161' tall (10 stories) x 80' wide.
• Glass Size
726 individual pieces of 556 shapes with a typical size of 4'-4" x 7'-0".
• Glass Specifications
1.375" insulated unit with 0.375" low-iron outer lite (single pane) of glass, a 0.5" air space and a 0.5" laminated interior lite made up of two 0.25" lites laminated together.
• Glass Coatings
Interior surface of the outer lite of glass has a low-E (low emissivity) coating and a 40% ceramic frit pattern made up of 0.125" white dots. (Recent material improvements via the low-E coating and ceramic frits allow Krueck & Sexton to use the panes of glass with much more energy efficiency, in keeping with the project’s overall environmental efforts.)
• Engineering/Production
Window wall system engineered by ASI of Los Angeles, CA.
Glass manufactured by Viracon of Owatonna, MN.
Installation by Arcadia of Northbrook, IL.
Consulting by Will Shepphird of Shepphird Associates of Los Angeles, CA.
• Structure
Custom shaded aluminum mullion spanning 14' on floors 1 through 8 and 21' on floors 9 and 10
return to top