Willis Tower Repositioning

Overview

Opportunity

Solution

Impact

Team

One of Chicago’s most iconic landmarks is transformed into a vibrant mixed-use destination where work, culture, hospitality, and community intersect.

Location

Chicago, Illinois

Client

The Blackstone Group

Expertise

Building Transformation & Adaptive Reuse Brand Design Digital Experience Design Mixed Use & Retail Centers Office Developers

Opportunity

A globally recognized office tower held untapped potential to unlock value, welcome new audiences, and connect more meaningfully with its changing downtown context.

Like many aging office buildings, Willis Tower faced pressure to remain relevant as expectations for downtown environments changed. Blackstone recognized that spaces once considered awkward or unleasable — areas overlooked when the tower was built — now held new possibilities. By activating these forgotten spaces, ownership could unlock value while drawing nearby residents, workers, and visitors into a richer range of activities. The challenge was to introduce new uses and welcome broader audiences while respecting the identity and operational complexity of one of Chicago’s most recognizable landmarks.

Why This Matters

01
Reuse Over Replacement
Adapting an existing landmark extends its useful life while demonstrating how established office buildings can respond to changing expectations without sacrificing their identity.
02
Downtown Revitalization
New amenities and gathering places bring activity to the surrounding neighborhood beyond the traditional workday, supporting a more engaging downtown experience.
03
Mixed-Use Evolution
Retail, dining, entertainment, tourism, and workplace offerings expand the building’s appeal and give people more reasons to visit — and linger.

The reinvented Willis Tower is a perfect example of what the future of work looks like. We are proud that Willis Tower will continue to thrive as a place where some of the world’s best companies and brightest minds come together, while serving as a wonderful space for the community in downtown Chicago.

Solution

Understanding how visitors move and engage shaped a mixed-use ecosystem that reimagines underutilized areas as inviting hubs for dining, social connection, entertainment and discovery.

Gensler studied movement patterns throughout Willis Tower to identify where design could encourage exploration and longer stays. The resulting intervention centers on Catalog, a five-level addition, opens the tower‘s base to the city through dining, shopping, entertainment, and gathering spaces. Streetscape improvements, a publicly accessible roof terrace, food hall, market, coworking environments, and art installations create a more varied experience from street level to the Skydeck. Together, these elements connect daily workplace activity with the broader rhythms of downtown Chicago.

From brief to build: using behavioral research, immersive visualization, and placemaking principles to reshape how people experience a Chicago landmark.

The design process began with a detailed study of how tenants, tourists, workers, and other visitors moved through the building. The research identified overlooked areas where new programming could turn circulation into engagement. Virtual reality and other visualization tools allowed stakeholders to assess scale, movement, and relationships among uses before construction. Four principles guided the work: activate the street, curate a complementary mix of offerings, create inviting gathering places, and establish a more transparent connection between Willis Tower and the surrounding city.

Activating the Base

Early concepts transformed underutilized circulation areas into vibrant destinations that extend activity from the street into the tower.

Impact

Willis Tower has reaffirmed its broader role in downtown Chicago, welcoming people throughout the day for work, dining, entertainment, and connection.

Once primarily a place to work or sightsee, the tower now gives tenants, neighbors, and tourists more reasons to gather and stay.

What Changed Because of This

01
Broader Engagement
New gathering places and year-round programming invite office workers, residents, and tourists to experience more of the property.
02
Destination Appeal
Dining, shopping, entertainment, and hospitality offerings encourage people to stay longer while bringing activity to the building beyond conventional office hours.
03
Renewed Relevance and Value
The investment strengthens the tower’s competitiveness and demonstrates how a landmark office property can adapt to changing tenant and visitor expectations.

By opening the tower’s base to a broader mix of people and activities, we strengthened its connection to the everyday life of Chicago.

Recognition

01

AIA

Recognized Willis Tower Repositioning as a 2023 AIA National Interior Architecture Award winner. The project is nationally celebrated as one of the eight most innovative and spectacular interior spaces.

02

Chicago Tribune

Marked Willis Tower's 50th anniversary, highlighting Gensler's transformative repositioning project and featuring Todd Heiser's perspective on modernizing the iconic skyscraper for a new generation of tenants and visitors.

03

Interior Design

Featured Gensler's transformation of Willis Tower, highlighting how the repositioning modernized the iconic skyscraper through hospitality-driven amenities, vibrant public spaces, and an enhanced workplace experience.

Team

Project Leadership

Benjy Ward

Benjy is a Principal in Gensler’s Chicago office and a leader in the firm’s Entertainment practice. With more than 25 years of experience spanning mixed-use development, urban planning, workplace, hospitality, retail, and repositioning projects, he is recognized for creating transformative, city-shaping places.

Todd Heiser

Todd is a Co-Regional Managing Principal of Gensler’s North Central Region, where he guides strategy, growth, and design excellence across one of the firm’s most dynamic regions. A nationally recognized design and business leader, he is known for helping organizations embrace change, strengthen culture, and create places that inspire people, accelerate innovation, and shape the future of cities.

Michael Townsend

A Design Director and Mixed Use & Retail Centers Leader for Gensler’s North Central Region based in the Chicago office, Michael brings more than 20 years of experience leading large-scale commercial, retail, civic, aviation, hospitality, and education projects across the U.S. and Asia.

Hansoo Kim

A Design Director in Gensler’s Chicago office, Hansoo brings a global perspective to design, shaped by a multicultural background and more than two decades of experience leading award-winning projects worldwide.

FAQ

01

Why reposition an iconic office tower rather than build something new?

Repositioning extends the life of an existing landmark while introducing new experiences that respond to changing workplace and lifestyle expectations.

02

What is Catalog at Willis Tower?

Catalog is the reimagined base of Willis Tower, featuring retail, restaurants, entertainment, and public gathering spaces.

03

How does the project support downtown revitalization?

By creating new destinations, amenities, and public spaces, the project encourages activity beyond traditional office hours.

04

How was data used in the design process?

Gensler analyzed how visitors and tenants used existing spaces and used those insights to inform programming and circulation strategies.

05

What makes the project relevant today?

It demonstrates how aging office buildings can evolve into mixed-use, hospitality-focused environments that attract diverse audiences.

06

What can other cities learn from this project?

The repositioning provides a roadmap for reinvesting in existing assets to create vibrant, community-oriented urban destinations.

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Related Expertise

Building Transformation & Adaptive Reuse Brand Design Digital Experience Design Mixed Use & Retail Centers Office Developers

One of Chicago’s most iconic landmarks is transformed into a vibrant mixed-use destination where work, culture, hospitality, and community intersect.

A globally recognized office tower held untapped potential to unlock value, welcome new audiences, and connect more meaningfully with its changing downtown context.

Why This Matters

Understanding how visitors move and engage shaped a mixed-use ecosystem that reimagines underutilized areas as inviting hubs for dining, social connection, entertainment and discovery.

From brief to build: using behavioral research, immersive visualization, and placemaking principles to reshape how people experience a Chicago landmark.

Willis Tower has reaffirmed its broader role in downtown Chicago, welcoming people throughout the day for work, dining, entertainment, and connection.

What Changed Because of This

Recognition