In 2023, Optima, Inc., a family-owned, vertically integrated and design-driven real estate development firm based in Glencoe, Illinois and Scottsdale, Arizona, realized a multi-family, 100-unit apartment building in downtown Wilmette, Illinois, delivering rental residences and an amenity-rich development to the North Shore market. For the privately-held firm, the residential and commercial project is more than its visual composition of glass…
-
-
The boardwalk connection
“I look at design as a creation of how humans interpret the natural world. I think there is this connection between the natural world and the built environment, and it is up to us—those in the design field—to interpret what that is, and to create our own values on how we intersect the natural world and the built environment,” said…
-
Design Within Reach
Design Within Reach Inc., a furniture and furnishings resource and manufacturer, announced on April 15, 2022 its first Michigan location with the opening of a new studio in Grand Rapids, Michigan. While its first brick-and-mortar presence in the state, the roughly 4,440-square-foot space is now the brand’s 35th location within a national footprint. Design Within Reach is a source of…
-
Great Lakes By Design: Ergonomics
CONTENTS DESIGN CORNER 16 Pergola | the freestanding architectural workspace solution that also functions as an office space divider by Haworth Inc. 19 Prospect | the one-of-a-kind coffee table featuring the unique shapes and grain patterns of harvested Ash trees presented by Room & Board Inc. DESIGN SPOTLIGHT 22 Elevated design | the innovative company leveraging its elevator interiors to create workspace design solutions for…
-
Vintage curation
“If I am offering design as a service to someone else, I can solve problems that maybe the client did not even know they had or make their space more functional, but more importantly, more enjoyable. Good design truly does bring joy to people,” said Kim Tanner, owner of Strangelovely in Godfrey, Illinois. Strangelovely is a classic vintage furniture and…
-
Great Lakes By Design: Crafted Lodging
CONTENTS DESIGN CORNER 17 Finn | the solution in outdoor seating offering a durable, low-maintenance option for dining and lounging 18 Geoffrey Nesting Tables | the minimal and colorful companion for any space with a subtle, playful demeanor 19 Lollygagger | the chaise lounge fit for the modern lollygagger designed with sustainability in mind 22 Willa | the versatile and durable storage side tables…
-
The urban home
In downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan, the renovation of the third floor of a historic building transforms a vacant, open space into two individual residences for its owners. Featuring a collaborative design-and-build team, which includes two businesses local to Kalamazoo, Intersect Studio and Buday’s Home Electronics Simplified, the project comprises the restoration of the building while maintaining its charm, as well as…
-
Herman Miller’s next chapter
Once a warehouse district home to Chicago’s meatpacking operations, Fulton Market’s current neighborhood has become defined by its tech, entertainment, and burgeoning restaurant scene within the approximately 74-acre expanse in the Chicago’s West Loop. As of March 2021, one new tenant of the district is experiencing a modern transformation of its own. Last month, Herman Miller Group announced a new…
-
Classic reborn
In a former industrial campus along Massachusetts Avenue in Indianapolis housing one of the largest Coca-Cola bottling factories in the world, a new mixed-use site known as Bottleworks District recently opened and has set down roots as a new hospitality and entertainment epicenter. The district, a nearly $300 million, 12-acre transformative initiative, is the largest private development of its kind…
