SOM has been active within the Broadgate business district for three decades, designing several key projects there. The office building, 10 Exchange Square, creates a new, western gateway to the entire complex. Through its design, SOM fulfilled an important urban mission of clarifying and enhancing pedestrian connections between Broadgate and the surrounding neighborhood. The elegant, … Continued
SOM’s Public Space Enhancements at Broadgate have re-activated this important financial district in London, animating the area and maximizing its appeal to office workers and visitors alike. Through a range of imaginative solutions, SOM developed the unique identities of Finsbury Avenue Square, the Octagon, and Broadgate Circle, and reestablished the status and reputation of each … Continued
Block 9 is a new mixed-use tower in downtown Fargo, North Dakota, at the corner of Broadway and 2nd Avenue. The result of a public-private partnership between the City of Fargo, the Kilbourne Group, and R.D. Offutt, Block 9 transforms a surface-level parking lot into a cultural and economic asset. Appropriate to its prominent location, … Continued
SOM was selected by Rendeavour, Africa’s largest urban developer, to create a master plan for the Central Business District of Tatu City, a new mixed-use community in Kenya. Located 16 kilometers northeast of Nairobi, the 160-hectare CBD forms the heart of the new development. With a complementary mix of urban living, work, and leisure opportunities, … Continued
For more than a century, The Arts Club of Chicago has been committed to the advancement of contemporary art and arts education. Recently, the institution sought to activate its space and give members and visitors a new place for gatherings and conversation. Lead design architect Vinci Hamp Architects, in collaboration with SOM, met this need … Continued
With more than 80 properties worldwide, The Ritz-Carlton has long been a leader in the luxury hotel market. SOM has designed several projects for the venerable company, including this 250-room, five-star hotel in booming Beijing. A curved tower with an eye-catching glass façade, the building rises from a prominent site within Beijing Finance Street, a … Continued
In the 1960s and 70s, SOM designed the master plan and many of the buildings for the University of Illinois campus on Chicago’s Near West Side. Architect Walter Netsch led the effort, which focused on shaping an urban campus that would benefit from direct connections to transit and surrounding neighborhoods. Netsch’s Behavioral Sciences Building, created … Continued
Inspired by the courtyard layout of Gordon Bunshaft’s Connecticut General Life Insurance Headquarters, architect Bruce Graham designed the Upjohn building with a series of seven interior gardens landscaped with trees, pools, stones, and sculptures. Graham was also influenced by the architecture of his native Colombia, where homes contained central, open-air courtyards that flooded interior spaces … Continued
Located in Portland, Oregon, the Veterans Memorial Coliseum directly expresses SOM’s conviction that successful architecture depends on the balanced union of art and engineering. The design team, led by Myron Goldsmith, used a grid of reinforced concrete columns and cantilevered steel trusses to form a square building, 360 feet wide on each side. Unlike most … Continued
Warren Petroleum is an early example of SOM’s integration of environmental systems into high-rise architecture. Designed by architect Bruce Graham, the building’s skin is wrapped in balconies that contain an exterior sheet of gray glass, which absorbs heat and shades the interiors from Tulsa’s hot sun. The design was informed by Le Corbusier’s concept of … Continued