Here are Chicago’s most prolific architects

Pencils down: Chicago’s busiest architecture firms are bKL Architecture and Pappageorge Haymes Partners, which filed 28 major project permits each in a five-year stretch and cite strong residential demand.

High-rise residential buildings made up many of the larger projects. The Real Deal combed city permit data to find which architects were named for the most major projects in each of the last five years.

TRD pulled permit data from Chicago’s open data portal and looked at all new construction permits reviewed. Click here to see a map of every permit approved since 2017.
Those projects include new construction of buildings higher than 80 feet, non-residential projects exceeding 150,000 square feet, residential projects with 50 or more units, schools more than 60,000 square feet and projects with two or more basement levels.

Remote and hybrid work schedules don’t seem to have affected someone’s desire to live near the downtown core.
Tom Kerwin bKL Architecture

Tom Kerwin, founding principal of bKL Architecture, said his projects during those years totaled $1.65 billion in hard construction costs. Among bKL’s most notable ones is the $150 million Cascade Chicago, a luxury apartment building at 455 East Waterside Drive Lakeshore East that was the city’s priciest.

Kerwin said most projects are going ahead, even after costs rose because of supply-chain issues. “Demand kept up with escalation,” he said.

The Loop is the hub of the firm’s business, and Kerwin is seeing more permits in the West Loop for major structures. He noted that the 2020 census showed a slight uptick in Chicago’s population, which he said indicates that people still want to move to the city.

“Remote and hybrid work schedules don’t seem to have affected someone’s desire to live near the downtown core,” Kerwin said.

Tim Kent, a partner at Pappageorge Haymes Partners, said projects slowed in 2020 and picked back up as the pandemic eased.

“A lot of those projects came roaring back,” he said. “Chicago has shown that it’s pretty resilient.”

Two of the firm’s most notable recent projects are a 444-unit high-rise at 465 North Park Drive and Wolf Point East, which brings almost 700 units to the convergence of the north and south branches of the Chicago River. The city has had significant development along transportation corridors, something city leadership is pushing for, and in Fulton Market.

“There’s been a huge amount of work going on in Fulton Market,” Kent said. “That’s a seismic shift in the development pattern of Chicago, and we’ll see whether that has a long-term effect on other developed areas, whether the Loop itself or River North.”

More people are living in the Loop as well.

“If you go back 20 to 25 years, the Loop wasn’t a residential neighborhood,” he said.
Still, he said his firm is looking for opportunities on the South side where he said Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Invest South/West initiative will help spur development.

Jim Plunkard’s Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture came in third, with 27 major project permits. It’s designing the mixed-use megaproject that Onni Group is bringing to Goose Island.

Joe Antunovich of Antunovich Associates, who was named on 23 major project permits from 2017 to 2021, described absorption of apartments in Chicago as “bottomless” and said work has been busy downtown and in the West Loop. He attributed that to corporations with headquarters located there and young people wanting to live near where they work.

“Who would’ve known the West Loop would’ve grown incredibly as it has. I don’t think anyone saw that coming,” he said. “Companies like Google and McDonald’s made that happen.”

2021

1. Tod Williams of Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, 8
2. David Haymes of Pappageorge Haymes Partners, 7
3. TIE: David Brininstool of Brininstool + Lynch and Tom Kerwin of bKL Architecture, 5
4. TIE: Jim Plunkard of Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, Jonathan Stein of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Clara Wineberg of Solomon Cordwell Buenz Architects, 4
5. TIE: Howard Hirsch of Hirsch MPG, Robin Whitehurst of Bailey Edward Architecture, Arden Freeman of Built Form, Laurence Booth of Booth Hansen, Thomas Roszak of Thomas Roszak Architecture, Anthony Akindele of Nia Architects, George Geldis of AECOM, David Stelter of Stantec, 3

2020

1. Jonathan Splitt of Jonathan Splitt Architects, 11
2. Roxanne Knapp of Knight E/A, 8
3. TIE: David Brininstool of Brininstool + Lynch and Howard Hirsch of Hirsch MPG, 6
4. TIE: Tom Kerwin of bKL Architecture, Joe Antunovich of Antunovich Associates, Jean Dufresne of SPACE Architects + Planners, Tod Desmarais of Point Real Estate Development, 5
5. TIE: Jim Plunkard of Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture and George Sorich of NORR, 4

2019

1. Alexander Chu of Epstein Global, 13
2. TIE: Michael De Rouin of FitzGerald Associates Architects and Michael Doiel of HDR Architecture, 7
3. Jim Plunkard of Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, 6
4. TIE: Tom Kerwin of bKL Architecture, Paul Alessandro of Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, David Brininstool of Brininstool + Lynch and Mark Frisch of Solomon Cordwell Buenz Architects, 5
5. Gary Kohn of Solomon Cordwell Buenz Architects, Kapil Khanna of Lamar Johnson Collaborative, Grant Uhlir of Gensler, Peter Theodore of Camburas & Theodore LTD, Mark Dewalt of Valerio Dewalt Train and Daniel Barney of Arkinetics, 3

2018

1. David Haymes of Pappageorge Haymes Partners, 16
2. Joe Antunovich of Antunovich Associates, 9
3. Michael De Rouin of FitzGerald Associates Architects, 8
4. TIE: Tom Kerwin of bKL Architecture, Gary Kohn of Solomon Cordwell Buenz Architects, Kapil Khanna of Lamar Johnson Collaborative, Joseph Dolinar of Goettsch Partners, Jean Dufresne of SPACE Architects + Planners, Laura Rebbe of Epstein Global and Grant Uhlir of Gensler, 4
5. Jim Plunkard of Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, Howard Hirsch of Hirsch MPG, Renauld Mitchell of Moody Nolan, Charles Renfro of Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Alexander Chu of Epstein Global, Jefrey Jakalski of EXP and David Manfredi of Elkus Manfredi Architects, 3

2017

1. Jim Plunkard of Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, 9
2. Tom Kerwin of bKL Architecture, 8
3. TIE: Howard Hirsch of Hirsch MPG and Gary Kohn of Solomon Cordwell Buenz, 6
4. TIE: Joe Antunovich of Antunovich Associates, Jay Bargmann of Rafael Viñoly Architects, David Haymes of Pappageorge Haymes Partners, Kapil Khanna of Lamar Johnson Collaborative, Michael De Rouin of FitzGerald Associates Architects and Jonathan Stein of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 5
5. George Halik of Lamar Johnson Collaborative, 4

*Table notes architects’ current employer

Read more

Chicago

Here are Chicago’s most notable development projects of 2022

Chicago

Small projects, big numbers for Chicago’s permit champ