100 years and counting

Navy Pier

Chicago, IL, USA

Chicago’s Navy Pier is Illinois’ most popular attraction, drawing in almost nine million visitors annually. Now approaching its 100th year, the Pier is being reimagined to maintain its status as a world class public space in a unique location.

The new Pier landscape will feature vibrant architecture along with a year round program of entertainment for visitors, uniting the relationship between the diversity of the city and the Pier’s dynamic waterside location.

The redevelopment will work alongside the wider sustainable masterplan for Navy Pier, which will support a long term plan for energy efficiency.

Nine million visitors annually

Challenge

Ranging from the structural design of street furniture to a detailed assessment of the Pier’s structural integrity, the engineering team faced many challenges in meeting the exacting requirements defined by the design scheme. The project’s tight budget was also another significant factor.

Solution

The most prominent change to Navy Pier will be the addition of the Wave Wall, an extension of Pier Park that will serve as a new retail and dining venue. Though the Wave Wall is comprised of a conventional moment frame, our experts designed a custom solution that would conceal the Pier’s expansion joints within the architecture to minimize visual impact.