The George W. Dunne Cook County Administration Building (formerly known as the Brunswick Building) is a skyscraper located at 69 West Washington Street in Chicago, Illinois. [1] [2] The building, constructed between the years 1962 and 1964, is 475 ft (144.8 m) tall, and contains 35 floors. [1] It has a concrete structure. [1] The building, engineered by Fazlur Khan of the firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, is notable for innovating the tube-within-a-tube structural system. [2]
Originally a corporate office building, the tower was later acquired by the Cook County government and now holds county government offices and courtrooms. [2] Officially the "George W. Dunne Cook County Administration Building", [3] its namesake is George W. Dunne (who served as president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners).
The building, was constructed between the years 1962 and 1964, and utilizes a concrete structure. [1] At the time of its construction, it was Chicago's tallest concrete office building. [2] The building is designed with an exposed structure and adheres to the modernist architecture style. [2] The building utilizes a deep foundation system. [2]
This was the first building to utilize the shear wall frame interaction system conceptualized by its engineer, Fazlur Khan of the firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. [4] Kahn adapted the tube system he had innovated with the design of The Plaza on DeWitt by creating a tube-within-a-tube, with both the building's core and its perimeter being hollow and rigid tubes that support the tower, allowing for column-free interior space. [2]
At its lower portion, the façade of the tower juts back slightly in a curve. [2]
The building is connected to the Chicago Pedway system, with the Pedway featuring retail spaces in the area where it passes beneath the tower. [2] An underground Chicago Pedway passage connects the building to the Richard J. Daley Center across the street. [2]
The building has a small plaza featuring an untitled sculpture by Joan Miró. [2]
On October 17, 2003, a structural fire occurred on the 12th floor of the building. [5] [6] [7] The fire was started in a supply room [8] by a faulty light fixture and resulted in the deaths of six people. [9] [10] The City of Chicago, in addition to several other defendants, paid $100 million to the families of the six victims after litigation, [11] citing multiple failures.
In the film National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation , the building is shown in establishing shots as Clark Griswold's workplace as a chemical engineer at a food company. [12]