Private rooms, sky lobbies will be the focus of children's hospital

Construction has commenced on Chicago's new Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital, a 288-bed facility that will replace Children's Memorial Hospital. Designed to achieve LEED certification, the 23-story building will have all private rooms with space for at least one parent to sleep overnight and a sky lobby on the 11th and 12th floors to provide views of Chicago and Lake Michigan for parents and visitors. Construction is being managed by a joint venture of Mortenson Construction, Elk Grove Village, Ill., and Power Construction Company, Schaumburg, Ill., and is expected to be complete in 2012. Three architectural firms—Zimmer Gunsul Frasca, Portland, Ore.; Solomon Cordwell Buenz, Chicago; and Anderson Mikos Architects, Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.—will share the design work for the project.