Quad Cities I-74 Iowa Illinois Mississippi River Bridge Photography

Quad Cities I-74 Iowa Illinois Mississippi River Bridge

Quad Cities I-74 Iowa Illinois Mississippi River Bridge


This post features photos from our June visit to the Quad Cities for photography of the I-74 Iowa Illinois Mississippi River Bridge. Officially named “The Twin Bridges”, the new transportation infrastructure bridge project spans the Mississippi River connecting Bettendorf, Iowa to Moline, Illinois.  We photograph structural art, infrastructure, architecture, buildings, industrial, bridges, transportation, and more around the Nationwide, so we we’re excited to be the selected photographer for this photo project close to home.  We set out to capture a variety of photography to include ground photos from the shore, images on the suspension bridge, drone aerial, day, and night images of the arch bridges. It was the perfect summer seasonal weather for the shoot providing for pedestrians and transportation both passing over the new Mississippi River bridges.

bridges transportation road highway marine utilities photographer

bridges transportation road highway marine utilities photographer


Interstate I-74 Mississippi bridge river night photos

Interstate I-74 Mississippi bridge river night photos


architectural drone exterior bridge photographer rosales partners

architectural drone exterior bridge photographer


Quad Cities I-74 Iowa Illinois Mississippi River bridge photography

Quad Cities I-74 Iowa Illinois Mississippi River bridge photography


drone bridges night award competition photographer bridge structure

drone bridges night award competition photographer bridge structure


drone aerial bridge photography photographer

drone aerial bridge photography photographer


structural engineering civil mechanical solar marketing images

structural engineering civil mechanical solar marketing images


suspension bridge professional commercial photography company photos

MILLER+MILLER Architectural Photography was commissioned by Miguel Rosales of Rosales + Partners for a photography architectural photo shoot of the new I-74 bridge in the Quad Cities.  The new I-74 Mississippi River crossing bridge construction connects the Illinois and Iowa state’s roads and transportation infrastructure – both a functional bridge with its infrastructure design, yet constructed as beautifully aesthetic designed structural piece of art.  The arching white bridges are visible from long range viewpoints miles away from the Illinois and Iowa Mississippi shorelines during the day and when illuminated at night.

The new $1.2-billion bridge fully opened to road traffic on Dec. 2, 2021.  The walkable, running, and bike friendly pedestrian portion of the bridge opened for use in April 2022 with the City of Bettendorf IA and Moline IL hosting a bike and pedestrian path dedication on May 18, 2022.  Waiting for optimum weather and the exterior landscape with trees in the area to be full of green leaves, our photo shoot proceeded in early June.  The I-74 bridge project is part of a regional strategy for improving access across the Mississippi. For updates on the I-74 River Bridge project, visit the bridge construction project website at I74RiverBridge.com.

MILLER+MILLER is a commercial architectural photography company who produces marketing images for architects, contractors, engineers, artists, mechanical, civic, government, and more professional companies.  M+M spent the day completing photography of the Mississippi Bridge in Moline Illinois and Bettendorf Iowa capturing variety of vantage points from both the ground level and bird’s eye height in the sky with our drone from sunrise to sunset.

A photography goal was to illustrate not only the final completed structure of the bridge, but also the beautiful landscape surrounding the twin arching bridges.  Producing aerial, day, sunset, and night photographs to showcase the bridge’s Summer time season, Midwest landscape, bridge uplighting illumination at night, and architecture structural design.  A goal of photographing images for the Quad Cities new landmark twin bridges which artistically capture architectural photos the suspension bridge and twin steel arches bridge structure.  The Quad Cities I-74 Iowa Illinois Mississippi River bridge design is a visually memorable and artistic connection for traffic driving over the Mississippi River and between the states of Iowa and Illinois.

Mississippi River Quad Cities Davenport Bettendorf

Mississippi River Quad Cities Davenport Bettendorf


Illinois Iowa drone bridge photography photographers

Illinois Iowa drone bridge photography photographers


The Interstate 74 (I-74) transportation road bridge reconstruction serves as the primary crossing of the Mississippi River in the Quad Cities of Davenport, Rock Island, Bettendorf, & Moline in Illinois and Iowa.  The bridge construction project totaled seven miles of interstate expansion.  Design and transportation functionality of the I-74 bridge provides access for the important east-west interstate link in the nation’s Midwest segment of the transportation network with its west end at the I-80 interchange in Davenport Iowa and east terminus at I-75 in Cincinnati.

drone bridge photography photographers

drone bridge photography photographers


white arches bridge river crossing sunset sunrise landscape

white arches bridge river crossing sunset sunrise landscape


up lighting suspension bridge illumination

up lighting suspension bridge illumination


structural infrastructure architectural photographer

structural infrastructure architectural photographer


night sunset bridge river ocean water pedestrian traffic

night sunset bridge river ocean water pedestrian traffic


architectural suspension bridge architect photography Chicago photographer

architectural suspension bridge architect photography Chicago photographer


artistic night photography infrastructure bridge architecture

artistic night photography infrastructure bridge architecture


Rock Island Moline Davenport Iowa Illinois drone development photos

Quad Cities Rock Island Moline Davenport Iowa Illinois drone development photos


transportation travel railway ports airport landscape traffic bridges stimulus infrastructure

transportation travel railway ports airport landscape traffic bridges stimulus infrastructure


Chicago photographer infrastructure bridges rail marine

Chicago photographer infrastructure bridges rail marine


glass oculus viewing platform river city bridges

glass oculus viewing platform river city bridges


artistic walking path bridge photos

artistic walking path bridge photos


Pedestrians and visitors to the bridge river crossing site are able to use the bike and pedestrian path which features on top a scenic overlook with a glass oculus floor.  The oculus view point provides the public with a unique view through the glass of the Mississippi River flowing below as well as a viewing platform to view the west setting sunsets over the Mississippi river valley.  The 10-foot diameter glass oculus is made of thick, safe to stand on with the tempered glass with a textured surface to provide traction.  In the evening, the bridge glows with up lighting, and the entire path is lit at night to include the pedestrian bridge’s summit scenic water overlook.  The fully separated pedestrian bridge is ADA accessible.  The path connects to existing trails on both sides of the Mississippi River waterway between Davenport, Rock Island, Bettendorf, and Moline. The old I-74 bridge is planned for demolition.

On December 1, 2021, thousands of residents and visitors participated in a celebration walk over the new I-74 River Bridge and celebrated the future of the Quad Cities together. Watch the December recap celebratory walk video on the I-74 River Bridge Youtube page:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b9p-nDvkyQ

steel bridge structural infrastructure commercial photographer

steel bridge structural infrastructure commercial photographer


bridge glass oculus viewing platform pedestrian bike path

bridge glass oculus viewing platform pedestrian bike path


Congress passed the Whitehouse’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law which will rebuild America’s roads, bridges and rails https://www.whitehouse.gov/bipartisan-infrastructure-law/ (in addition to expand access to clean drinking water, ensure every American has access to high-speed internet, tackle the climate crisis, advance environmental justice, invest in communities.)  Government improvements are for the United States ports, airports, rail, and roads reconstructing our nation’s bridges, and construction of interstate highway traffic and transportation systems.  MILLER+MILLER Architectural Photography is experience in photographing all types of infrastructure, view additional posts featuring Bridges Transportation Road Highway Marine Airports Utilities Photographer image examples.

white twin arch suspension bridge pedestrians walking bike path

white twin arch suspension bridge pedestrians walking bike path


new bridge park bicycle bike path community development

new bridge park bicycle bike path community development


Mississippi River path Bettendorf Jetty Park Iowa bridge

Mississippi River path Bettendorf Jetty Park Iowa bridge


MILLER+MILLER is a husband & wife, Nationwide traveling commercial architectural photography company. Our photographs of the new Quad Cities I-74 Iowa Illinois bridge replacement crossing over the Mississippi River, connecting Iowa to Illinois, features nearly two decades of work from a number of contributors for the bridge development project. From design, to planning, to construction, the build was a collaboration of the project leads listed below, along with all their sub-contracting partners, and countless other entities, businesses, and community members. ( Sources  www.constructionequipmentguide.com/crews-place-keystone-on-iowa-illinois-bridge/49218, and the links below).

BRIDGE PROJECT COLLABORATORS & CONTRIBUTORS:
IOWA DOT District 6 Cedar Rapids
Illinois DOT District 2

Awards
American Institute of Steel Construction and the National Steel Bridge Alliance — National Award in the Major Span category of the 2022 Prize Bridge Awards

Design
Rosales + Partners — Architect, conceptual engineering and design of bridges, and type study selection, architectural visualizations and physical models
Modjeski and Masters (M&M), as part of the Alfred Benesch Design Team

Construction Management/General Engineering Consultants
Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions, Inc.
HR Green
Hutchison Engineering Inc.
Knight E/A, Inc
R.M. Chin & Associates, Inc.
Images, Inc. — Public Involvement Strategic Communications Planning

Construction Engineering and Inspection Consultants
R.J. Watson, Inc.
Tenca Steel Detailing, Inc.
Bruner, Cooper & Zuck, Inc.
HNTB
McClure Engineering Associates, Inc

Contractors
Helm Group/Civil Constructors Inc. — Iowa viaduct
Kraemer North America — Illinois viaduct and ramps
K&W Electric — Roadway lighting
Lunda Construction Co. — Main bridge
Minturn — Aesthetic lighting
McCarthy Improvement — Iowa mainline and ramps
Valley Construction — Iowa ramp and mainline storm sewer
Walsh Group — Illinois I-74 mainline and ramps

Contact photographers MILLER+MILLER Architectural Photography to photograph your finished architecture, structure, transportation, infrastructure, or construction project. Providing aerial drone photography, video, and exterior night photography services, we look forward to learning about your unique project and your photography image needs. Our husband and wife photography company with 10+ years of working as a commercial photographer provide an experienced ability to capture a variety of exterior angles, elevations, and artistically framed shots of structures, architecture, infrastructure and more through photography and architectural video services.  

Below are a few quick links to additional blog posts of structural projects:

chicago skyway toll bridge

View Our Chicago Skyway Toll Bridge & Plaza Renovation Photography Shoot

Drescent Dunes Solar Energy Project Tonopah Drone

Click Here to View Our Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project Commercial Photos & Video


Navy Pier Wave Wall’s Urban Design & Structures Photography

navy pier wave wall

Navy Pier wave wall

wave wall stairs Navy Pier

wave wall stairs Navy Pier


navy-pier-wave-wall-urban-design-structures-photography

Navy Pier wave wall urban design structures photography


Navy Pier Chicago

Navy Pier Chicago


wave stair wall Navy Pier

wave stair wall Navy Pier

MILLER+MILLER Architectural Photography photographs the Navy Pier Wave Wall and Urban Design & Structures Photography showcasing the urban design materials, systems infrastructure and architecture design of the recently redesigned, downtown Chicago popular tourist attraction.  Our photography focused on capturing the Navy Pier wave stair wall’s modern design which utilizes our client’s application of commercial and industrial paint coatings finishes. 

Navy Pier’s dynamic lakefront location has been a part of Chicago’s history since 1916.  As Chicago urban design and architectural photographers, we appreciate the benefit of often learning early about finishing of construction, photographing just built skyscrapers, buildings, new construction, and unique architect projects annually; such as quoting photos of Chicago’s newest Navy Pier “Wave Stair Wall” right after completion.  

Our client’s marketing contact inquired to us about her company’s infrastructure construction marketing portfolio photo needs and photography the company’s latest urban design architectural project at Chicago Navy Pier.  Looking for Chicago photographer to photograph several angles and appearances of the Urban Design & Structures featuring the company’s architectural and industrial coatings for the wood & steel architectural materials around the finished site.  The architect designed and client’s finishing coatings are visible within the wave stair wall, railings and benches around the staircase of the pier, providing a premier coating for high performance architectural and industrial applications using a Fluoronar finish.  Photography included a variety of angles and detailed pictures of the sites that utilized architectural steel and metal primer and topcoat final coatings.   A few wide shots included the skyline to the west, with Loews Hotel Tower, Trump, 474 North Lake Shore Drive, & Lake Point Tower skyscrapers visible in the background of the pier images.  

The Navy Pier pierscape renovation is a small part of the plan for Chicago’s historic Navy Pier redesign called The Centennial Vision. Navy Pier celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2016.  The first of multiple phases of construction design at Navy Pier included architect and construction company’s development of new architectural structures – Wave Wall, Info Tower, Lake Pavilions, and Kiosks Kiosks with stainless steel canopies and a towering glass and chrome sculpture are among the recent enhancements made now spanning the newly redesigned pierscape in Chicago on the Navy Pier’s South Dock and the Polk Bros. Fountain. The pierscape urban architecture and landscape design project was led by New York based James Corner Field Operations team in the design of the contemporary “pierscape” that will renew the popular destination’s experience and connection to the water.  “Re-imagined as a green spine that extends from Lake Michigan back into the city, the Pier’s South Dock anchors a series of thematic rooms filled with engaging social spaces, contemporary architecture, stunning water features, atmospheric lighting, amusements, and seasonal plantings.  The new South Dock and adjoining Polk Brothers Park, as well as the upcoming East End Park, Crystal Garden and other public spaces, will make Navy Pier not only a world-class icon, but also a center of activity and culture that is reflective of an authentic, contemporary Chicago identity.”

navy pier wave wall stairs

navy pier wave wall stairs


urban architecture landscape design photos Chicago

urban architecture landscape design photos Chicago


urban design structures photography

urban design structures photography


Navy Pier Chicago wave wall

Navy Pier Chicago wave wall

urban landscape architecture design chicago

urban landscape architecture design chicago


urban infrastructure architect design chicago images

urban infrastructure architect design chicago images


commercial landscape design construction photographer Chicago

commercial landscape design construction photographer Chicago


The Chicago’s Navy Pier is Illinois’ most popular tourist attraction. The pierscape’s redesign connects the vibrant social and recreational space redesigned to help connect the pier back to the city.  Field Operations  plans for the architecture of Pierscape to be organized into two categories and scales: large singular structures that merge buildings with landscape and smaller objects that punctuate the pier and frame new views towards Lake Michigan. As the architects on the team, nARCHITECTS collaborated on the overall plan and designed structures that enhance Chicagoans’ connection to the lake by framing, integrating or reflecting the natural environment.  

As the centerpiece of the South Dock Promenade, the Wave Wall is a louvered façade that morphs into a grand stair, inspired by the Spanish Steps in Rome at Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti.  It connects the South Dock to an upper level amusement park in one continuous and dramatic social space with south facing views of Lake Michigan.  As the steps rise and transition into louvers, they reveal access to 30,000 square feet of retail spaces below.  The Wave Wall Staircase steps serve not only as a traditional staircase purpose leading upwards from the lakefront up to the Centennial Wheel Navy Pier Chicago, but also dual use as seating for the throughout the Summer, twice a week Navy Pier Firework’s show where many onlookers sit to watch fireworks lighting the sky over Lake Michigan.  

Chicago Navy Pier Wave Wall Stairs
Location: Chicago, IL
Construction of 3,000 ft-long pier redesign and The South Dock and Polk Plaza Navy Pier Project was completed in 2016.

1st Prize, International Competition, with James Corner Field Operations, Team Leader.
Awards: 1st Prize, International Competition; Architizer A+ Awards, Finalist, Mixed-Use Commercial. 

Architizer A+ Awards, 2017 Finalist, Architecture + Sustainability: Navy Pier South Dock and Polk Bros. Fountain.
ASLA-NY Honor 2017 Award: Navy Pier South Dock and Polk Bros. Plaza.
Chicago Design Awards, 2017 Gold Winner, Architecture Mixed-Use: Navy Pier.
Offshore – Rooftop Bar at Navy Pier is a 2019 ALA Merit Winner.
2019 Merit Award for Navy Pier from PA-DE ASLA Chapter.
Navy Pier Phase 1 opened in May 2016 and is the first project to achieve Gold certification under the Sustainable SITES Initiative (SITES) v2 rating system.

Chicago Navy Pier Wave Wall Project Collaborators:  
Design Architect and Architect of Record for the Wave Wall, Kiosks, Pavilions, and Info Tower by nARCHITECTS.

Interior Architecture for Wave Wall by Gensler Architects.  
Project Lead, Prime and Lead Landscape Architect, Landscape Architecture, Urban Design by James Corner Field Operations.  
Local Architectural Consultant: Epstein Global.
Structural Engineering: Buro Happold.
MEP & Civil Engineering: Primera Engineering.
Soils and Irrigation: Jeffrey Bruce and Company.
Local Landscape Architect: Terry Guen Design Associates.
Water Feature Design: Fluidity Design Consultants
Green Wall and Botanical Specialist: Patrick Blanc.
Grass Specialist: John Greenlee & Associates.
Event Planning: Chris Wangro
.
Envelope Consultant: Simpson Gumpertz Heger.
Architectural Commercial and Industrial Painting Coatings & Finishing: Tnemec
 
Lighting Design: L’Observatoire International.  
Graphic Design, Signage and Wayfinding: Pentagram
Industrial Design: Billings Jackson Design.
Traffic Engineering: Kimley-Horn.
Sustainability Consulting: RE:Vision
Collaborators Phase 2: Architect of Record: Gensler.  Structural: Thornton Tomasetti. MEP Engineering: ESD Global, Code: d’Escoto, Inc.

Contact MILLER+MILLER to discuss your project.  Visit our Portfolio section for a variety of image examples – and – click below for two featured projects: The Chicago Skyway or Crescent Dunes Solar both examples of unique, architectural structures photo projects.

chicago skyway toll bridge

Chicago skyway toll bridge

See images of our Chicago Skyway Toll Bridge Plaza Restoration shoot

Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project

Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project

View more examples of Unique, Landscape and Infrastructure Photography Projects


Rush University Medical Center Hospital Tower in Chicago

Rush University Medical Center Chicago

Rush University Medical Center Chicago


Chicago Drone Photographer

Chicago Drone Photographer


Chicago Architectural Photography

Chicago Architectural Photography


Perkins + Will Chicago Architect

Perkins + Will Chicago Architect


Power Construction Company Illinois

Power Construction Company Illinois


Walsh Construction Chicago

Walsh Construction Chicago


Thornton Tomasetti Structural Engineer

Thornton Tomasetti Structural Engineer


Illinois Landscape Architect Designer Hitchcock Design Group

Illinois Landscape Architect Designer Hitchcock Design Group


Alucobond Exterior Metal Composite Panels 3m Adhesives

Alucobond Exterior Metal Composite Panels 3m Adhesives


Walker Parking Consultants Chicago

Walker Parking Consultants Chicago


Jacobs Engineering Group Structural Building Construction Services

Jacobs Engineering Group Structural Building Construction Services


Chicago Aerial Photographer

Chicago Aerial Photographer


Introducing the new Rush University Medical Center Hospital Tower Chicago on 1600 West Harrison Street.  Construction on this LEED Gold certified, 386 patient room, 800,000-square-foot hospital tower lasted from July 2008 to July 2011. Boasting a Height of 252 ft it has numerous award winning, state-of-the-art treatment facilities including operating rooms, radiology suites and emergency departments.  Designed by Architect Ralph Johnson FAIA of Perkins+Will it is situated in the Medical District / Near West Side neighborhoods overlooking the Eisenhower Expressway & Chicago Skyline.

The unique footprint of the new Rush University Medical Center building ensures that each patient room is identical, to create efficiency for the staff, while maximizing the amount of exterior wall surface and the number of windows. This allows daylight into, and views from, each patient room. Nurses stations are positioned along the core, and the rounded rooms at the end of each point of the star are left open for lounge and consultation space.

This 386-bed hospital tower sits adjacent to I-290 Eisenhower expressway feeding downtown Chicago and consists of a rectangular base containing medical diagnostic and treatment facilities, topped by a butterfly-shaped patient bed tower. The new hospital tower’s unique butterfly shape is a departure on many levels for healthcare design.  It is the direct result of an “inside-out” approach to its design.  Close collaboration with RUMC doctors, nurses and administrators culminated in the creation of full-scale mockups, in which hospital staff walked corridors and rooms drawn to scale in an empty parking lot.  The butterfly shape that evolved out of these exercises accomplishes a couple of important goals.  Aesthetically, it forms an iconic and uplifting presence on Rush’s campus and along the nearby expressway. Functionally, the shape shortens distances between patients and nurses in an effort to reduce stress for staff and provide patients with extra peace of mind knowing that help is immediately accessible.  It really embodies the concept of patient-centered care.  Our architectural photography exterior hospital building photo shoot in Chicago combined Chicago aerial drone photos and exterior hospital building photography to not only showcase building’s architecture in photos, but also providing from a photographers perspective a preview of the high-rise hospital’s views from the vantage point of the upper level’s hospital windows.

Thornton Tomasetti was the structural engineer for the multiyear redevelopment plan, providing structural design for an award-winning 845,000-square-foot, 14-story hospital addition; an entry pavilion that connects to the existing hospital; and the renovation of the existing hospital.  The project included the design and construction of a new loading dock, utility tunnels, a pedestrian bridge, a central utility plant and a medical office building.  The new hospital addition utilizes a steel-frame system with steel columns and composite steel beams. The lateral system is composed of reinforced concrete shearwalls.  The addition’s foundations are belled and straight shaft caissons. The addition incorporates an interventional platform concept that devotes three floors to surgery, imaging and specialty procedures and allows multiple specialists to collaborate and treat patients using state-of-the-art technologies.  The entry pavilion serves as the main entrance to both the new addition and the existing hospital. The pavilion boasts a three-story-high lobby area with an open-air terrarium that extends 40 feet to a rooftop garden.  Natural daylighting filters into the space through two skylights. Pedestrian bridges running through the pavilion improve patient conveyance and circulation by providing a direct route from the patient floors to specialists located in the new hospital.  The new hospital building is the largest new construction healthcare project in the world to be LEED Gold.  (Noted: Thornton Tomasetti is also providing structural design services for Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Tower, which will become the world’s tallest building at more than 1,000 meters, and will be the first man-made structure to reach 1 kilometer in height.)

Collaboration on design concept & structural complications
Perkins+Will worked closely with hospital clinicians during the design phase to create a new hospital building that would embrace patient comfort, safety, efficiency, and quality of care—ultimately, a facility that would house 304 acute care and critical care beds, 72 private neonatal intensive care rooms, 28 operating rooms, 14 procedure rooms, and 10 labor, delivery, and recovery rooms.  “Rush’s Office of Transformation organized task forces chaired by selected leaders from the client side, who met over the course of several months with the Building Team to discuss specific aspects and departments of the project,” says Bridget Lesniak, AIA, a principal with Perkins+Will.  Task forces for each department met with the Building Team to plan layouts that accentuated the hospital’s best operational practices while discouraging inefficient ones.  For example, the Hospital Building Standards task force reviewed architectural and MEP systems for all typical rooms, which provided vital information regarding operations, product selection, liability, infection control, and clinical concerns. “Especially standardization, which was the main driver for this project,” says Lesniak.

The innovations developed between the Office of Transformation and the Building Team included:
• The butterfly shape, which gives nurses a clear sightline to patient rooms and puts them closer to patients.
• Operating-room quality air throughout all patient care areas, and even higher quality air circulation in surgical suites.
• Single-bed rooms designed with separate zones for the patient, the patient’s family, and staff. Patient rooms have a uniform design, so physicians and nurses will find the same equipment in the same place to ensure seconds are not lost in an emergency.

Getting the tower to sit right
Meanwhile, the structural design for the 14-story Tower faced complications. Initial designs had its base connected directly to the basement of Rush’s existing hospital building, which extended 30 feet under the new facility.  “The lower level of the existing building extended a significant distance below grade in the direction of the new addition,” says Lesniak. “Attempting to put in foundations for a 14-story building in this location would have been very expensive and extremely time consuming.”  The Building Team assembled for a constructability and value engineering session. The solution: pull the two buildings apart and redesign the new hospital building.

Delivery method: PM/CM agency multi-prime
Separating the new and existing hospital structures actually simplified the foundations, eliminated supercolumns, and allowed a rectilinear column grid that eliminated the need for a transfer truss system. A multistory bridge was built to connect the Tower back to the existing building, a structural redesign that saved more than $40 million and resulted in a more finely engineered building with no reduction in scope.  The newly created space between the two buildings allowed for the inclusion of the three-story, 10,000-sf Edward A. Brennan Entry Pavilion, made possible through $16 million in private donations. It features a four-story terrarium that is open to the elements, circular skylights that provide natural lighting, seating areas, and a centrally located reception area.  Even though it was a late addition to the Rush transformation program—the Tower’s steel and concrete structure was complete and 50% enclosed—the Brennan Entry Pavilion was finished three months ahead of schedule and in time for the grand opening.

Other cost-saving efforts by the Building Team included:
The application of simulation modeling to review and validate the operational space program, which led to improvements in the utilization of numerous spaces—saving $7.8 million.
•A strategy for mitigating floor moisture to avoid the application of accelerants—saving $5 million.
•Reengineering the support steel for patient lifts and booms and lights—saving $1.05 million.
•Negotiating consultant and contractor proposals—saving $26 million.

A military approach to the emergency management departments
Unique to the Rush new facilities  is the first-floor Emergency Department, which houses the Robert R. McCormick Foundation Center for Advanced Emergency Response.  “This is the nation’s first facility designed to provide care for patients involved in chemical, biological, and radiological disasters,” says Dr. Dino Rumoro, Rush’s chair of emergency medicine. “We have to be ready for any type of disaster that can hit the city of Chicago.”  Modeled after a military emergency command center, the room measures 40,000 sf and includes 60 beds in three pods of 20 rooms each. Each patient room is fitted with a double set of gas and electrical outlets. In the event of a mass casualty situation, two patients can be placed in each room.  In case extra capacity is needed, gas and electrical outlets are hidden behind panels on columns in the adjacent Edward A. Brennan Entry Pavilion.

“Many new emergency departments are building in disaster response features, but none to the capacity that we have done by incorporating large-scale decontamination, respiratory infectious illness, and surge capacity,” says Dr. Rumoro.  Traditional emergency rooms have decontamination areas and showers to serve up to six patients. Rush’s emergency response center can serve and decontaminate several hundred patients in one hour.  The ambulance bay can also be closed to vehicles, and decontamination showers can be set up to wash down large numbers of patients simultaneously. Contaminated water is collected in a 10,000-gallon tank rather than directly discharged into the city sewer system.

“The hope is Rush developed a model for future emergency department design and Centers for Advanced Emergency Response will be required in the future for hospitals in large population centers,” says Dr. Rumoro. At a ceremony for Rush’s new Tower in December 2011, Dr. Larry Goodman, CEO of Rush, said, “This was a dedicated team effort by our board, staff, and management to create a 10-year plan to address our needs while improving clinical care.”  Building Team Award Judge Peter Rumpf, integrated construction manager for Mortenson Construction Real Estate Development CompanyMortenson.com Elk Grove Village, Ill., echoed Goodman’s comments:  “It was a very complex job that took a lot of collaboration and communication between the owner and the Building Team in order to successfully complete the project.”

2012 Building Team Awards Platinum Award
In the 2000’s Rush University Medical Center unveiled ambitious plans for a 10-year campus redevelopment project on the Illinois Medical District / Near West Side neighborhoods of Chicago.  With a total cost of $654 million, the main cornerstone of the transformation was an 840,000-sf, 14-story butterfly-shaped, four-pointed star, X like, hospital building, called the “Tower”, that included a technologically advanced emergency room prepared to handle any type of pandemic or chemical, biological, nuclear or radiological disaster / attack that may strike Chicago, IL.

During the global financial crash of July 2008, steel erection was only about 30% complete. Rush officials were concerned they might not be able to obtain the necessary funding to complete the project.  The Building Team, led by the Power/Jacobs Joint Venture—an affiliation of Power Construction Co., Schaumburg, Ill., and Jacobs Engineering Group, Pasadena, Calif. (PM/CM), and architect Perkins+Will, Chicago—worked to develop a financial plan that would allow the project to keep moving. A multi-prime contracting strategy enabled the Building Team to award contracts to multiple prime contractors based on when the work was ready to be bid and start. More to the point, the plan was flexible enough to slow down or stop construction at any time without committing to the balance of the contracts.

As construction proceeded during the economic meltdown, the Building Team was able to help Rush remain on course financially while pushing the limits of value-added engineering and construction.  In late 2011, Rush and the Building Team unveiled a LEED-NC Gold tower that was completed on time and within budget, thanks, in part, to the multi-prime contracting strategy.  In singling out Rush University Medical Center by awarding a Platinum designation, the judges for Building Design+Construction’s 2012 Building Team Awards recognized the Rush Building Team for overcoming the unforeseen financial constraints, developing a structural redesign of the tower that saved Rush $40 million, and completing one of the most innovative emergency response centers in the U.S.  “For a job of that size to get done during the recession is pretty impressive,” says Building Team Award Judge Jeremy Oremland, a financial analyst with Magellan Development Group LLC, Chicago.

More Awards
The new hospital building at Rush University Medical Center, the Tower, recently received two awards in this year’s American Institute of Architects (AIA) Chicago Design Excellence Awards competition. The Divine Detail award gives special recognition for the terrarium and Edward A. Brennan Entry Pavilion for its warm and inviting design, and the Interior Architecture Award for Rush’s “inside-out” design approach to support an environment of health and wellness.  The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Healthcare Awards program showcases the best of health care building design and health care design-oriented research. The projects that are selected exhibit conceptual strengths that solve aesthetic, civic, urban and social concerns, as well as the requisite functional and sustainability concerns of a hospital.

Divine Detail Award – Special Recognition
The Edward A. Brennan Entry Pavilion provides a welcoming space for patients and visitors, as well as a critical link between the new and existing care facilities. The focal point of the pavilion is a 3-story high open-air terrarium, which introduces an exterior landscaped space into the interior without creating air contamination issues associated with interior plantings.  Laminated low-iron glass is curved to fit a freestanding steel pipe frame that spans 50 feet through an aperture in roof to provide a sculptural element both inside the Pavilion and on its level 4 roof garden which relates to the two nearby skylights. The frame, a tilted elliptical cage that tapers to a circle, also provides a means to maintain the exterior (internal) face of the point-supported glass. Donors’ names are subtly added to the lower glass units for recognition.  Light studies showed that, although the terrarium provided significant daylight to the interior, illumination at its floor level would be insufficient for most plant types. The team therefore developed a plant palette based on deep forest environments. The combination of ferns, mosses, spring bulbs, and deciduous trees mimic a natural environment and change with the seasons.

Interior Architecture Award – Citation of Merit
The Tower was designed using an “inside-out” approach. A focus on patient, family and staff comfort and improved outcomes inspired both the butterfly-shaped design of the bed tower and a number of interior design solutions to support and enhance an overall environment of health and wellness. The four triangular-shaped points that comprise the structure of the butterfly-shaped tower were designed to minimize steps between nursing stations and patient rooms. Nursing stations are decentralized and open to accommodate barrier-free consultation. Each patient room contains distinctly expressed zones for patient, family and caregiver.  Throughout the building, floor-to-ceiling windows allow for ample day lighting in key areas such as an OR corridor where surgeons can enjoy exposure to natural light and panoramic city views after a long procedure.  A four-story public lobby, the Edward A. Brennan Entry Pavilion, with a glazed open air terrarium unites new and existing buildings and brings natural planting into the interior environment while addressing indoor air contamination issues associated with indoor planting.  The interiors were finished with low-VOC-emitting adhesives, sealants, paints, and flooring, contributing to high indoor air quality. The Rush project is the largest LEED Gold-New Construction certified health care project in the world.

Award Recognition
The Tower has received numerous other design and construction awards since it has opened in January including the following:
• LEED Gold Certification, making it the largest new-construction health care project in the world to be LEED Gold certified (April 2012)
• KPMG named the Rush Tower one of the most innovative and inspiring urban architecture projects in the world (Aug. 2012)
• Building Design + Construction 2012 Building Team Awards Platinum Award recognizing the collaboration on design concept and structural compilations (May 2012)
• Awarded the 2012 Project Achievement Award from Construction Managers Association of America (Oct. 2012) for Program Phase Buildings
• Named Project of the Year by the Engineer News Record – Midwest (Nov. 2012)

Building Project Credits
Architect Perkins+Will, Chicago—James Zajac, AIA (principal-in-charge); Ralph Johnson, FAIA, Jerry Johnson, AIA (principal designers); Jocelyn Frederick, AIA (principal planner); Bridget Lesniak, AIA, Walter Bissonnette (project directors); Robert Cohoon, AIA (senior interior architect); Rod Vickroy, Jason Rosenblatt, Barbara Burnett (senior interior designers); James Nowak, AIA, Jack Lesniak (senior technical architects); John Moorhead, AIA, Tom Demetrion, Jose Valeros, AIA (senior design architects); Brent Hussong, AIA, Laura Zimmer, AIA, Patricia Canedo, AIA, Zahra Makki (senior medical planners); Jeff Saad, AIA (project designer); Marvina Williams (medical planner); Dennis O’Malley (project manager); Milan Miladinovich, AIA, JB Park, Justin Aleo, AIA (project architects); Michael Tucker (interior designer); Carlos Barillas, AIA, Sawat Tulyathorn, Nathan Fell, AIA, Paul Stovesand, AIA, Rebecca Cox, Aaron Manns, Joachim Schuessler, Hugo Prill, AIA, Young Sup Park, Matt Booma, Bernard Chung, Gelacio Arias, Scott Blindauer, Crister Cantrell, Daniel Ferrario, Leigh Allen, Assoc. AIA, Jennifer Merchant, Hannah Jefferies, Remiko Kitazawa, Michelle Malecha, Assoc. AIA, Andrew Broderick, Assoc. AIA, Matthew Williams, Assoc. AIA, Michelle Hale Stern (project team)

Architect / Interior Designer:  Perkins+Will  perkinswill.com
Mechanical and Electrical Engineer:  Environmental Systems Design (ESD)  www.esdglobal.com
Structural Engineer:  Thornton Tomasetti  www.thorntontomasetti.com
Civil Engineer:  Terra Engineering  www.terraengineering.com
Construction Manager and General Contractor:  The Building Team, led by the Power/Jacobs Joint Venture—an affiliation of Power Construction Co.  (www.powerconstruction.net),  Schaumburg, IL, and Jacobs Engineering Group (www.jacobs.com), Pasadena, Calif.
Landscape Architect: Hitchcock Design Group www.hitchcockdesigngroup.com; Hoerr Schaudt www.hoerrschaudt.com (entry pavilion)
Architectural Photography and cinematic Chicago aerial drone video:  MILLER+MILLER Architectural Photography www.mmarchitecturalphotography.com
Lighting Designer:  HDLC
Lighting:  Aurora Lighting auroralighting.com (entry pavilion)
Parking:  Walker Parking Consultants walkerconsultants.com


Sustainability:
  Ibc Engineering Services www.ibcengineering.com (entry pavilion)
Traffic Management:  Kimley Horn www.kimley-horn.com
Material Management:  St. Onge www.stonge.com
Code:  Schirmer (Aon) www.aon.com
Equipment:  Walsh Construction www.walshgroup.com
Vertical Transportation:  Vertex Corp.
Exterior Wall:  Heitman & Associates heitmannassoc.com
Acoustical:  Cerami Associates www.ceramiassociates.com
Signage:  Fd2s www.fd2s.com

Materials and Sources
Adhesives, Coatings, and Sealants:  3M Co. 3m.com
Carpet:  Interface FLOR interfaceflor.comBentley Prince Street bentleyprincestreet.com
Ceilings:  Armstrong armstrong.com; Ceilings Plus ceilingsplus.com
Curtainwalls: Raths, Raths & Johnson & ASI www.archsystems.com

Exterior Wall Systems:  Sobotec Architectural Wall System Solutions (metal panels) sobotec.com
Flooring:  Polyflor polyflor.com;  Altro altrofloors.com
Furniture:  Herman Miller Healthcare hermanmiller.com/healthcare
Glass:  Viracon viracon.com
Green Roof:  LiveRoof liveroof.com;  American Hydrotech hydrotechusa.comRoxul (insulation) roxul.com
Lighting Control Systems:  Lightolier lightolier.comLeviton leviton.com
Lighting:  Philips Lighting lighting.philips.com
Masonry, Concrete, and Stone:  Chicago Block and Brick Co.
Metal:  Alucobond  alucobondusa.com; kalzip.com
Paints and Finishes:  Sherwin-Williams sherwin-williams.com
Pavers:  Hanover Architectural Products hanoverpavers.com
Structural Systems:  Nucor-Yamato Steel Co. (steel) nucoryamato.com
Walls:  Panolam panolam.com
Windows and Doors:  Viracon (exterior glazing) viracon.com
Window Shades:  Mechoshade mechoshade.com

Updated 2020:  Novel Coronavirus COVID-19
As Chicago architectural photographers traveling the Nation, MILLER+MILLER Architectural Photography is privileged to photograph many of the USA’s most innovative designed buildings and architecture such Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center Hospital Tower in Chicago.

As of March 12 2020, Rush University Medical Center says they are officially operating in surge mode, as preparations for a potential sharp increase in patients with COVID-19. When Rush University Medical Center opened its hospital Tower in 2012, it was the first Chicago area hospital specifically designed to provide treatment for an outbreak of an infectious disease, such as novel coronavirus disease. While no system is perfect, Rush believes that for the novel coronavirus global pandemic, they can provide great care for patients.

Rush University: ‘This Is What Rush Was Built For’:
https://www.rushu.rush.edu/news/‘-what-rush-was-built-’

Architectural Record: ‘Planned for a Pandemic: Rush University Medical Center Tower by Perkins and Will’:
https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/14520-planned-for-a-pandemic-rush-university-medical-center-tower-by-perkins-and-will

Photography + Video © MILLER+MILLER Architectural Photography | For image use inquiries:  Contact Us


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