Google has provided a glimpse of what could be inside the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago’s Loop business district, showing a free-flowing layout that will be open to the public when the online search giant buys and moves into a revamped version of the glassy, Helmut Jahn-designed structure.
Mountain View, California-based Google on Thursday offered its vision for inside the reconfigured building, which as a state of Illinois-owned building long served as a public gathering space.
Google also unveiled to CoStar News and other media another look at lower levels of the building from a redesigned version of the large plaza outside the Thompson Center, from which a new, second-level terrace along the building’s exterior is visible.
Those rendered images are the closest look yet at a project with the potential to reenergize the center of the Loop, where the lingering effects of COVID-19 and a yearslong trend of tenants leaving older LaSalle Street buildings for new skyscrapers have left huge blocks of older-generation office space unused.
The building’s skeleton-like exterior has turned heads as the major overhaul advances, providing a visible reminder of the Google project’s potential impact on surrounding blocks.
Since Google’s plans to own and occupy the property at 100 W. Randolph St. with thousands of employees first emerged 2 ½ years ago, Chicagoans have wondered whether the interior would remain accessible to non-Google employees.
The new images and details, which first appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, confirm that Google will keep the lobby, known for its 17-story glass atrium, accessible during business hours.
Google spokesperson Ryan Lamont said in an email to CoStar News that the atrium will include restaurants and retail on the ground floor, as well as a second-floor terrace restaurant space with views of the atrium and plaza.
The interior rendering shows multiple levels of the atrium connected by stairs and bleacher seating.
CoStar News first reported that Google was in talks to buy the building in June 2022, and a month later Google confirmed its plans to buy the property after it is renovated by Chicago-based firms Prime Group and Capri Interests.
Google went public with the first exterior renderings of the overhaul in December 2023, and a formal groundbreaking ceremony was held this May.
Construction crews are in the process of replacing the building's facade, windows and internal systems.