This $45 Million, 219’ tall, 13 level, South Air Traffic Control Tower and 10,000 square foot base building at O’Hare International Airport features a unique architectural design. The tower shaft features a see-through, open staircase protected by a continuous high-performance unitized curtainwall system. Each of the 8 massive panes of cab glass measure 14’ 6” by 9’ with over 1 1/2” in thickness and weighed over 2,000 lbs. each. This project employed a number of sustainable strategies, including an extensive green roof and geothermal heating/cooling and is one of only a very few air traffic control towers in the United States to achieve LEED Gold status.

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Christopher Glass & Aluminum, Inc. furnished and installed all glass components for the control tower and the base building. 

The control tower cab glass doubled the size of previously existing control tower glass and had to be set with custom made power cup assemblies using one of the largest mobile cranes in the country.

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All construction commenced while O’Hare International Airport was operational, 24 hours/day. Our security badged crews used one gate to enter / exit and were limited to specific areas on the airport grounds. All heavy and light equipment including lifts, cranes and swing stages remained within the boundaries of the controlled access zones at all times.