10 & 120 South Riverside Plaza

SCB’s repositioning of 10 & 120 South Riverside Plaza in Chicago transforms the twin 21-story office towers into a vibrant urban campus, enhancing connectivity and tenant experience while achieving sustainable design standards.

Firm
  • area / size 71,000 sqft
  • Year 2025
  • 10 & 120 South Riverside Plaza are two adjacent 21-story office towers located along Chicago’s Riverwalk in the heart of downtown. With immediate access to multiple transit connections, owners Ivanhoé Cambridge and property manager Hines sought to ensure the buildings remained competitive with newer Class-A office towers. They engaged SCB to lead a multi-phase repositioning that reimagined the site as a dynamic urban campus through improvements to the arrival sequence, user experience, and interiors palette.

    A new double-height entrance visually links the two towers, while a refreshed façade creates a grand entryway. Third-floor terraces overlook the Riverwalk, adding outdoor amenities for tenants. At the ground level, SCB relocated building amenities to reactivate the entrance plazas and introduced retail options that maximize tenant use and capture commuter foot traffic. New program elements include a conference center, tenant lounges with outdoor fireplace seating, and a fitness studio that extends outdoors with a pickleball court and game zone. Together, these features create a vibrant ground-floor experience that strengthens the connection to the Riverwalk and elevates the market presence of both towers.

    Inside, both buildings now offer a hospitality-driven lobby experience. Decorative canopies and oversized lighting fixtures define “rooms within rooms,” balancing privacy with intuitive wayfinding. The interiors reference the towers’ mid-century origins while incorporating modern finishes that support today’s workplace standards.

    The repositioned towers integrate a range of sustainable strategies that enhance occupant wellbeing and environmental performance. The buildings have achieved ENERGY STAR certification and incorporate low-VOC materials to support healthy indoor air quality. Water-efficient landscaping and fixtures further reduce resource use, while interior spaces are designed to meet both WELL and LEED standards. Complementing these measures, the property offers on-site bike storage and benefits from its prime location, with a 97 Walk Score, a 100 Transit Score, and an 83 Bike Score, making it highly accessible and supportive of sustainable lifestyles.

    Through this repositioning, 10 & 120 South Riverside have been transformed into a modern, experience-driven campus that enhances connectivity, enriches tenant engagement, and establishes a new benchmark for office environments in downtown Chicago.

    Design: SCB
    Owner: Ivanhoé Cambridge
    Property Manager: Hines
    Broker: CBRE
    Contractor: Gilbane Building Company
    Photography: Kendall McCaugherty