Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons

The Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons is a Contemporary skyscraper designed in 2012 by Pickard Chilton, with Jon Pickard as lead architect, in association with Kendall Heaton Associates, and built between 2014 and 2017, for a reported $450 million dollars, in Milwaukee, WI.

Its precise street address is 805 East Mason Street, Milwaukee, WI. You can also find it on the map here.

The Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons has received multiple architecture awards for its architectural design since 2017. The following is a list of such prizes and awards:

• Americas Property Award - Commercial High-Rise Architecture Award in 2018
• City of Milwaukee - Mayor's Design Award in 2018
• Milwaukee Business Journal Real Estate Awards - Project of the Year in 2018
• American Architecture Awards - Honor Award in 2019
• AIA Connecticut Design Awards Excellence Award in 2019

The name Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons refers not only to the office tower, but to a public space known as "Commons" as well, which spans two blocks.

Pickard Chilton, with Jon Pickard as the lead architect, was the architecture firm in charge of the architectural design, in association with Kendall Heaton Associates.

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 Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons a reality:

• Magnusson Klemencic Associates in charge of Structural Engineering
• Gilbane Building Company and CG Schmidt as the Main Contractor
• Entuitive in charge of Facade Consultancy
• Hines as the Main Developer
• Alvine Engineering in charge of MEP Engineering
• OJB Landscape Architecture in charge of Landscape Architecture
• Valerio Dewalt Train Associates in charge of Interior Design

The Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons can be categorized as a Contemporary building.

The Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons uses a frame structure made of steel columns and concrete on steel deck 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 a glass curtain wall that wraps around the tower with a gentle curve on its eastern side and a sharply defined edge facing Lake Michigan. The facade design incorporates metallic elements that provide structural support and enhance the building's contemporary aesthetic, accentuating clean lines and vertical forms that emphasize its height.