BMO Tower

The BMO Tower is a Contemporary skyscraper designed in 2018 by Goettsch Partners , and built between 2019 and 2021 in Chicago, IL.

BMO Tower is not the only name you might know this building by though. It is common for companies to want to attach their names to iconic buildings when they move in, or for the general public to come up with nicknames, and this one is no exception. The BMO Tower is also known, or has been known as, 320 South Canal Street, or Union Station Redevelopment Tower.

Its precise street address is 320 South Canal Street, Chicago, IL. You can also find it on the map here.

The BMO Tower has received multiple architecture awards for its architectural design since 2021. The following is a list of such prizes and awards:

• Chicago Building Congress Award in 2023
• Office Development of the Year by the Illinois Real Estate Journal in 2022
• People's Choice Award by the Illinois Real Estate Journal in 2022

Goettsch Partners was the architecture firm in charge of the architectural design.

That being said, architecture is a complex discipline involving many professionals from different fields, without whom this building would have not been possible. We will surely be leaving out a lot of names here, but here is a list of the people we do know also played their part in making the BMO Tower a reality:

• Magnusson Klemencic Associates in charge of Structural Engineering
• Clark Construction as the Main Contractor
• Kone as the company in charge of the elevators system
• Riverside Investment & Development as the Main Developer
• Environmental Systems Design, Inc. in charge of MEP Engineering
• Wolff Landscape Architecture in charge of Landscape Architecture

The BMO Tower can be categorized as a Contemporary building.

The BMO Tower uses a frame structure made of concrete and steel columns and poured concrete over metal decking slabs.

A frame structure uses a combination of beams and columns to sustain the building's weight. The walls in this case are non-load bearing, which allows for more flexibility when distributing the interior spaces.

The facade uses a non-load bearing curtain wall system. This means the curtain wall modules are anchored to the building's structural frame, typically by being attached to the edge of the floor slabs. The curtain wall system connects to the slabs using brackets, anchors, and mullions, which transfer the loads imposed by wind and temperature changes, to the building's primary structural elements.

This setup allows the curtain wall to accommodate differential movement between the facade and the structural frame, such as thermal expansion, floor deflection, or sway from wind forces. This system's integration with the slab edges also allows for continuous insulation and weatherproofing layers.

From an aesthetic point of view, the facade features blue-tinted glass on a slightly undulated surface which makes the glass reflect light differently, creating the illusion of a vertical striped pattern.

The East and West facades also feature vertical elements in stainless steel, which merge at the ground floor into the structural V-shaped inclined columns which are part of the identity of the tower and allow for an open, column-free lobby access.