360 CHICAGO Welcome Experience
We engineered, built and installed the millwork for 360 CHICAGO's new 5,000-square-foot welcome experience, 94 floors above Michigan Avenue. It's built to stand up to hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, and we installed it while the attraction stayed open.
- Client
- 360 CHICAGO
- Lead agency
- Next/NOW
- Event
- 360 CHICAGO observation deck — new entry concourse (with lead agency Next/NOW)
- Venue
- 875 North Michigan Avenue (former John Hancock Center), 94th floor
- Location
- Chicago, IL
- Year
- 2024
The challenge
Lead agency Next/NOW handed us concept drawings for the new entry experience. They showed the look, but nothing yet showed how to build it. Next/NOW produced the content and handled the audio-visual install and programming. Our job was to make the physical space real.
The space takes hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, and that kind of traffic wears out ordinary finishes fast. The site is a downtown high-rise with a tough load-in and almost no room to stage materials. And 360 CHICAGO stayed open the whole time, so we had about a week to complete the install while working around guests.
Our solution
We turned the concepts into buildable work: materials, construction details and integrated LED lighting, all specified to survive heavy daily use. Everything was pre-built and test-fit in our shop before it went downtown.
We staged deliveries in install order to fit the limited space, and we worked long, precisely planned shifts around the public and alongside Next/NOW’s content and AV team.
Results
The welcome experience opened on schedule in spring 2024, built for long-term, high-traffic use.
It was an honor to work on this one. 360 CHICAGO is one of our hometown’s signature views, and the new entry experience shows Chicago off in an incredible way.
Gallery
