Question:
Why don't (some) hotels have basements or underground foundations? I noticed that with the Sophy Hotel, too. They just built it right on top of the ground--like the Study--whereas the Rubinstein had a dug down foundation. I think that's why the Study went up so fast.

The Rubinstein looks absolutely stunning!

How are the new dorms under construction one block to the south of the Rubenstein looking?

The dorms look good, appear to be fully constructed, perhaps still working on interiors(?). I forgot to take pictures as I was marveling at the Rubenstein. The tallest dorm building creates quite a presence on the south end of campus, as does the Rubenstein and the new hotel.

It depends on the hotel/situation. Most hotels have surface or first floor back of house and loading docks for easy access delivery of goods, laundry services, etc. Although there are some hotels in Chicago that have lower levels/basements (such as the Radisson Blu in the Aqua, the Fairmont, the Renaissance) all of which benefit from being adjacent to lower Wacker which provides back of house ease of access, away from busy streets above where loading docks would be tricky to do.

You answered your own question, sort of... developers in Chicago avoid building basements on large buildings whenever possible. This is due to the cost of soil retention/dewatering and the extra months/years it adds to the construction schedule. Sometimes there's no choice, though (like One Chicago).

An example of a hotel in Chicago with a basement not extended to below street grade would be the Home2Suites at 110 W Huron.

So there's no real structural reason for an underground foundation in Chicago? I'm just asking because the Study Hotel and Rubenstein Forum are side by side, as you know. They spent months digging out the foundation for the Rubenstein, but the Study Hotel is just as tall, or so it appears, and yet they built it at ground level.

Maybe this changes for a tall skyscraper but I guess at lower level you can get away with a ground level foundation.

I ask this as a layman. I'm not in the contraction business and don't really know the engineering considerations.

UChicago posted an interior tour of Woodlawn Commons:
https://v1.panoskin.com/?tour=5eb5c381d563b7343258248d

The basement isn't a requirement of a deep foundation system. You build a basement because you need the extra space, especially for things that are necessary but unattractive (parking, storage, utility stuff). A deep foundation in Chicago is usually a caisson system, and you can drill caissons from ground level just as easily as from Level -1.

This is for large commercial projects, of course. For homes, especially small ones, the need to put (shallow) foundations below the frost line at 5 feet down means you're already basically doing all the work to dig out a basement space, so you can either backfill that space after the foundations are poured and waste the effort, or pour a basement floor while you have it dug out and put it to good use.

Thanks!!

From today:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-no?authuser=0
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-no?authuser=0
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-no?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-no?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-no?authuser=0

Thanks for pics.

That last pic is a great shot of Woodlawn Commons, but two other buildings got in the way. LOL

hah, sorry! looked through the rest of my pictures from yesterday and that's the best angle I got of Woodlawn Commons :(.

Rubenstein looking sharp!! Pretty great collection of buildings lining both sides of the Midway now

Pritzker announced new facilities would be built at the University of Illinois and "right here at the University of Chicago" at the Dept. of Energy event today.

https://www.facebook.com/uchicago/vi...8078529348931/

(29:50)

Could this be referring to a new building for the Molecular Engineering School or compsci or something else?

Potentially - I had brought this up a few months ago; UC is planning a new construction building for the the school of Molecular Engineering, we responded to a very early RFQ, and I believe the building was planned to be around 200-300K gsf (which is quite large), but that was last year, and I suspect the current pandemic has put those plans on hold for a year or so. For now, I believe the dept is spread out in other locations on campus.

I think they're using office space in the old HEP building (not that they need it now with only essential and lab personnel allowed to return, for now). But yeah, I can't remember if they're taking the space in the old HEP building, or demolishing accelerator, or building a new building or what. I just know that high-bay space is going to be hard to come by soon...

I don't doubt that UChicago has taken a hit due to the pandemic. The announcement seemed to be of a $220 million loss so far. However, after yesterday's DOE announcement, it appears likely UChicago will be a participant in one of the DOE National Quantum Centers to be announced by the end of the month. That initiatives has $1.25 billion in Congressional funding so far.

https://www.hpherald.com/news/at-u-o...4e9be8533.html

.

I believe it. It's basically a cash cow with all those grants.