A unique assignment, a professional tap dancer and actress commissioned WKA to introduce the materials and character of the american west into the upper floor of a low ceilinged/expansive floor plate of a high-rise in Chicago, complete with practice room and stage for impromptu recitals. The approach taken was the creation of a vocabulary of tongue and grove horizontal paneling system of Alaskan Yellow Cedar which reads as a contemporary take on a log cabin. Thus, the materiality and sensability harkened to the past while maintaining a crispness of detailing expected within a contemporary highrise. The owners extensive collections of art, objects and artifacts plays off of this background.

General Contractor: Harold Schulz and Company
Photography: Monica Rosello