Tag Archives: BUILDING (Chicago) – Blue Cross Blue Shield Tower (1997/2010)

My Architecture & Design Photography: BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD TOWER (1997/2010), Lohan Associates/Goettsch Partners, 300 E. Randolph Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60601. (4 PHOTOS).

1 Reply

FEATURE image: Blue Cross Blue Shield Tower building, Day and Night. November 2017. It was designed by Goettsch Partners (GP) an architecture firm based in Chicago, with additional offices in Denver and Shanghai.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Tower sits on the northeast corner of East Randolph Street and Columbus Drive in Chicago, Illinois. It is on the north side of Millennium Park. The tower is the headquarters of Health Care Services Corporation, a company founded in 1936 and based in Chicago, Illinois. HCSC is the licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association that provides health insurance to more than 115 million people in the U.S. as of 2022.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Tower was built in two stages. The first stage was the original 32-story building completed by Lohan Associates (today Goettsch Partners) in 1997. It was built with the potential for a vertical expansion so that the client could grow in the same location. An expansion occurred in 2007 with a 24-story addition completed in 2010. It became the first building project in downtown Chicago that built upon an existing tower. The views are from inside Millennium Park. November 2017 7.38 mb 3417 (1)
The Blue Cross Blue Shield Tower (second from right) in its setting on the north side of Millennium Park which was established in 1998. From left: One Prudential Plaza (1955), Two Prudential Plaza (1990), Aon Center (1973/1994). The Blue Cross Blue Shield Tower is next to the Aon Center with original plans to connect the two buildings via an underground pedway but did not come to fruition. November 2017 5.76mb 3397 (1)
The Blue Cross Blue Shield Tower was designed by Jim Goettsch, chairman of Goettsch Partners. November 2017 99% 7.41mb 3480

SOURCES –

https://www.bcbs.com/sites/default/files/file-attachments/page/Blue_Facts_Sheet-2022.pdf – retrieved August 7, 2024.

”24 More Stories Coming to Blue Cross Building,” Chicago Tribune, Bruce Japsen, July 26, 2006. – retrieved August 7, 2024.

AIA Guide to Chicago, 2nd Edition, Alice Sinkevitch, Harcourt, Inc., Orlando, 2004, p. 32.

https://www.gpchicago.com/ – retrieved August 7, 2024.

https://millenniumparkfoundation.org/the-foundation/ – retrieved August 7, 2024.

All Text & Photographs: