The Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Chicago’s Magnificent Mile first opened in November 2019, marking it as the sixth Starbucks roastery globally and the third in the United States. Standing five stories tall, the 35,000 square foot facility is the world’s largest Starbucks. The roastery offers an immersive experience where patrons can ride spiral escalators surrounding a 56-foot cask for 360° views, catch master roasters and baristas impart their vast knowledge on the artistry and science of coffee, and ponder at an incredible, 4-story mural by Chicago artist Eulojio Ortega.
Ortega’s artwork is a progressive piece that pays homage to farmers and coffee-growing regions, exhibiting the art and life of coffee planting, selecting and processing. The mural, brilliant for conveying the story as visitors go from floor to floor, is interestingly located in an exit stairwell.
Traditionally, stairwells are enclosed in opaque walls, leaving them dark, isolated, and rarely utilized unless in an emergency. This is where the architects masterfully blended their creativity with their knowledge of advanced building material technology. To allow the mural to be visible through multiple floors, encourage stair usage and meet fire rated code requirements, the architects redesigned the 2-hour stairwell using transparent, floor-to-ceiling butt-glazed glass walls with the largest tested and listed fire resistive glass panels available.
To meet all the design and code requirements, the architects selected fire resistive, ASTM E-119 rated SuperLite II-XLB 120 by SAFTI FIRST® with Starphire Ultra-Clear glass for its superior optical clarity, large panel sizes and butt-glazing capabilities, which eliminated the need for obstructive vertical mullions for maximum transparency. With the largest individual glass panels over 10’ tall and over 4’ wide, this was easily accommodated by SuperLite II-XLB’s tested and listed size, which is the largest in the industry (133” maximum clear view height or width; 7,980 sq. in. maximum clear view area). As standard glass tends to have a slight blue-green tint from the iron induced from the glass manufacturing process, low-iron Starphire Ultra-Clear glass was used for its superior clarity, improved color neutrality and high visible light transmission – all of which are integral to highlighting the vibrance of Ortega’s artwork and transforming what would have been an ordinary stairwell into a significant element to this Starbucks’s immersive experience.
Each floor of this exit stairwell tells a story about coffee-growing, which is on full display thanks to the floor-to-ceiling expanses and butt-glazing capabilities of SuperLite II-XLB 120 with Starphire Ultra-Clear glass for superior clarity.
To ensure transparency and consistent high clarity with the accompanying entrance system, SAFTI FIRST’s GPX® Builders Series Temperature Rise Door was supplied with fire resistive, ASTM E-119 rated SuperLite II-XL 90 with Starphire Ultra-Clear glass in the door vision panel. This allowed architects to exceed the 100 sq. in. door vision panel code limitation that applies to fire protective glazing like ceramics used as vision panels in 60-90 minute temperature rise doors. The GPX Builders Series Temperature Rise Door and surrounding GPX® Architectural Series Perimeter Framing were supplied in a custom finish to blend seamlessly with Starbucks’s bronze palette.
The outcome is a clear, code-compliant stairwell that flaunts Ortega’s masterpiece and transforms ordinary stair-climbing into a truly one-of-a kind Starbucks experience.
Project Name: Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Chicago, IL
Architect: Perkins + Will
General Contractor: Pepper Construction
Glazing Contractor: SG Metal & Glass
Products: SuperLite® II-XLB 120 with Starphire Ultra-Clear® glass in GPX® Architectural Series Perimeter Framing and SuperLite II-XL® 90 with Starphire Ultra-Clear® glass in GPX® Builders Series Temperature Rise Doors
SAFTI FIRST, SuperLite and GPX are registered trademarks owned by SAFTI FIRST.
Starphire Ultra-Clear is a registered trademark owned by Vitro.
Related Stories
Sponsored | BD+C University Course | May 3, 2022
For glass openings, how big is too big?
Advances in glazing materials and glass building systems offer a seemingly unlimited horizon for not only glass performance, but also for the size and extent of these light, transparent forms. Both for enclosures and for indoor environments, novel products and assemblies allow for more glass and less opaque structure—often in places that previously limited their use.
Sponsored | Glass and Glazing | Oct 27, 2021
Treating Glass as a Canvas
In the world of fine art, a master painter begins with canvas selection. A linen canvas is nearly always selected over cotton because nothing delivers the artist’s authentic vision quite like linen. Similarly, with glass.
Sponsored | Glass and Glazing | Oct 27, 2021
True Clarity for Ambitious Design
Clear glass is extremely common and is popular for a variety of architectural design applications, including vision glass, spandrel glass, storefronts, entryways and other exterior uses. It is specified repeatedly due to its versatility and ability to serve as a substrate for solar control, low-emissivity (low-E) coatings. However, when specifying glass to achieve a desired aesthetic, design professionals know that clear glass isn’t completely clear.
Cladding and Facade Systems | Oct 26, 2021
14 projects recognized by DOE for high-performance building envelope design
The inaugural class of DOE’s Better Buildings Building Envelope Campaign includes a medical office building that uses hybrid vacuum-insulated glass and a net-zero concrete-and-timber community center.
Glass and Glazing | Oct 26, 2021
Façade design for cost, performance, and delivery [AIA course]
HOK Technical Principal David Frey outlines best practices for designing building envelopes that live up to the aesthetic vision of the project while being cost-effective, high-performing, and quick to install.
Fire-Rated Products | Oct 21, 2021
Safti First Fights Through Assertions Made By Plaintiffs Ely Holdings Limited And Greenlite Glass Systems That Safti First’s Fire Rated Floor System Infringed On Their Patent
In a summary judgement dated February 3, 2021, Chief Magistrate Joseph C. Spero of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the patent infringement claims filed by Ely Holdings Limited (Ely) and Greenlite Glass Systems (Greenlite) against SAFTI FIRST, a USA fire rated glass and framing manufacturer, could not proceed to trial, finding that the SAFTI FIRST’s fire resistant floor does not violate Ely’s patent.
Sponsored | Glass and Glazing | Oct 1, 2021
Specifying Responsibly to Save Birds’ Lives
Realizing sustainable, bird-friendly glass design
Sponsored | Glass and Glazing | Oct 1, 2021
Seizing the Daylight with BIPV Glass
Glass has always been an idea generator. Now, it’s also a clean energy generator.
Glass and Glazing | Sep 30, 2021
Plans move forward on Central Place Sydney, duel towers with an AI-driven façade system
SOM and Fender Katsalidis are designing the project.
Glass and Glazing | Aug 24, 2021
Smart glass innovations for smarter buildings
Researchers explore the use of ultrathin photodetectors and augmented reality thin films to expand smart building applications.