Michigan Plaza North

The Michigan Plaza North is an International Style skyscraper designed by Fujikawa Johnson & Associates, and built between 1980 and 1981 in Chicago, IL.

Michigan Plaza North is not the only name you might know this building by though. The building is, or has also been known as Boulevard Towers North.

Its precise street address is 225 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL. You can also find it on the map here.

The 25-story Michigan Plaza North building, along with the 44-story Michigan Plaza South, is one of two adjacent interconnected high-rise office buildings with associated retail space and underground parking, constituting the complex known as Michigan Plaza.

The building has been restored 2 times over the years to ensure its conservation and adaptation to the pass of time. The main restoration works happened in 2000 and 2002.

Fujikawa Johnson & Associates 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 Michigan Plaza North a reality:

• Alfred Benesh and Company in charge of Structural Engineering
• Metropolitan Structures Inc as the Main Contractor
• Metropolitan Structures Inc as the Main Developer
• Cosentini Associates Inc in charge of MEP Engineering

The Michigan Plaza North can be categorized as an International Style building.

The Michigan Plaza North uses a frame structure made of concrete columns and beams.

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 a dark curtain wall made of dark anodized bronze aluminum and bronze tinted glass.