The Brunswick Building
The Brunswick Building Soundex Code B652
Construction Finished: 1964-1965
Floor Count: 35
Roof Height: 476 ft
Architect: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
The Brunswick Building was commissioned in 1961 and completed in 1964-1965, and became the tallest reinforced concrete structure of its time.
At the time it was being built, Chicago was undergoing rapid inner-city development, fuelled by the urgent need for more office space. This was an after-effect of the Depression, which had seen a halt in new developments between 1945 and 1955 within downtown Chicago, also known as the Loop.
Things were made worse by a height restriction imposed on new developments in the 1940s.
1955 saw the election of a new mayor, Richard J. Daley, who realized the need to revitalize the inner-city, and commissioned a development plan that included providing support and financial incentive for construction planning.
