Chicago's most divisive building is getting a second act. The James R. Thompson Center — Helmut Jahn's swooping, glass-curving postmodern giant in the Loop, opened in 1985 as the State of Illinois Center — is being transformed by Google into a 2,000-employee headquarters, with completion slated for 2028.
Google bought the 17-story, 1.15-million-square-foot building at 100 W. Randolph Street in 2022 and has now revealed fresh renderings of what's coming, alongside a set of community partnerships that give the project a distinctly local flavour. The company has been in Chicago since 2000 and has grown to more than 2,000 staff in the city, so the move is as much consolidation as gamble.
The heart of the redesign is the enormous central atrium. Google and design firm A+I plan to open up the space beneath the full-height atrium with a cascading terraced staircase — wood-panelled steps for lounging, communal tables for working, plants everywhere, retail and dining flanking the entrances below. A massive suspended oculus ring will hang over circular benches on the ground floor, and the whole complex keeps its direct link to CTA buses and trains, which was always one of the building's best tricks.
The plaza outside is getting a civic art moment too. Artist Sanford Biggers — who started his studies at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago in 1999 — will install "Vector," a 30-foot-tall tilted accordion-shaped sculpture that reimagines quilt patterns in glazed terracotta tiles. He's pulled motifs from 19th-century quilts held by the Illinois State Museum and Chicago History Museum, including a Tumbling Block design historically tied to signalling along the Underground Railroad. Inside, a student-designed piece commissioned with After School Matters will land in the retail concourse, and Google is also backing A Better Chicago to help tackle chronic school absenteeism.
Why should a traveller care? Because this corner of the Loop — bounded by Randolph, Lake, Clark and LaSalle — is set to become one of downtown's most interesting free hangouts. The plan calls for an activated atrium and plaza with a curated mix of food, distinctive shops and seasonal events: a spot to grab lunch, meet people or just gawk at the architecture without needing a security badge. If you loved or loathed the Thompson Center in its government days, the 2028 reopening is worth building into any Chicago itinerary. Until then, the building's exterior alone still makes the walk between Randolph and the Loop's theatres and restaurants more interesting than most city blocks manage.
