“Kinetic wall” will add touch of modern art to exterior of Sterling Bay office building

Developers have long turned to art and design to differentiate their buildings, and Sterling Bay is applying that idea in Fulton Market by turning part of the outside of its new office building into modern art.

The Chicago-based developer is wrapping the parking floors of its new 19-story office building with a “kinetic wall,” according to Curbed.

Architecture firm Gensler designed the wall, which will be built with 98,000 individual metal “flappers” that move with the wind, creating a pulsating facade. At more than 33,600 square feet, it will be the largest such wall in Illinois.

The building is part of 1.7 million square feet of office space Sterling Bay is adding in the booming Fulton Market district. The parking floors were also built in a way that will allow them to be converted into commercial floors if the demand for parking drops in the future, according to Curbed.

Sterling Bay began work this summer on the Fulton Market office project, which is slated to have 326 parking spaces on floors 2 to 5. Wells Fargo is financing the project with a $181 million construction loan. It is the first of three buildings Sterling Bay has planned for the 300 block of South Green Street.

Sterling Bay’s kinetic wall follows a trend of other major developers incorporating modern and digital art to buildings to help attract and retain tenants. [Curbed] — Joe Ward