Amid much anticipation, one of the most visually stunning suburban office projects in years has finally come online. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held today for Zurich North America’s new headquarters in northwest suburban Schaumburg.
Zurich North America Headquarters (© Steinkamp Photography/Courtesy of Goettsch Partners)
The 783,000 square foot building, designed by friends-of-the-blog Goettsch Partners, has been the object of fascination for tens of thousands of people who speed by on I-90 each day.
It’s conceived as two long rectangle boxes, seemingly positioned randomly in the countryside, with a third perched atop, linking the two. That third box, completing the building’s 11-story height, is actually oriented so that it points to downtown Chicago.
The building is in line for LEED certification, and the grounds are also very environmentally and employee-friendly. There are walking paths for outside breaks, and an outdoor pavilion for employee gatherings. Unfortunately, the project does have one wart — a conventional, above-ground parking deck.
Read more about the building and its opening in the press release following the photographs, all taken by Steinkamp Photography and courtesy of Goettsch Partners.
Location: 1301 East Algonquin Road , Schaumburg
Editor founded the Chicago Architecture Blog in 2003, after a long career in journalism. He can be reached at chicagoarchitectureinfo@gmail.com.
