Robert Shook

Victory Gardens Theater, Chicago’s Tony Award®-winning home for new plays, had outgrown its space in Lincoln Park. Victory Gardens turned to Schuler Shook to lead a programming effort, identifying their goals for an expanded theatre. We worked very closely with the Artistic Director and Managing Director at that time — Dennis Zacek and Marcelle McVay — to refine Victory Gardens’s goals for a new home.

When the nearby Biograph Theatre became available for purchase, Victory Gardens saw a unique opportunity in their own neighborhood. They purchased the famed cinema and began an extensive adaptation, developing a new 299-seat theatre that offers their playwrights a larger, more capable stage.

Schuler Shook advised Victory Gardens on theatre and backstage planning, designed the stage rigging and lighting systems, and assisted during construction of the project. In addition, Robert Shook designed lighting for the opening production of Charles Smith’s Denmark.

Chicago’s historic Water Tower was completed in 1869 and was one of only several buildings to survive the great Chicago fire. Over the years, the tower’s limestone facade became very dirty and the lighting scheme was in need of modernization.

Schuler Shook’s facade lighting consists of ceramic metal halide spotlights that graze light up the various turrets and towers. Fixtures are located close to the building, allowing the texture of the rough-cut limestone to be revealed, while the 3000K color temperature of the lamps renders the warmth of the stone.

The lighting for the historic Water Tower gives visual impact to North Michigan Avenue’s ​“Magnificent Mile”, one of Chicago’s most visited destinations for tourists and residents alike.

As part of the renovation of the Allerton Building, the Art Institute of Chicago commissioned lighting designs for Fullerton Hall and the Prints and Drawings Study Room. The hall’s main feature is a leaded stained glass dome that was originally installed by Louis Comfort Tiffany Studios in 1898. 

The dome exhibits a variation of glorious, warm colors that are cleverly lit by Schuler Shook’s design. Its dense and colorful characteristics provide the elegant room with an enchanting visual element, but posed a challenge for designers in delivering the adequate illumination levels for the auditorium. Additional sconces were provided to supplement the light emitted by the dome’s stained glass. 

Lighting and architecture are integrated in a minimal, timeless aesthetic for this high-rise building. The law firm’s Chicago headquarters occupies 27 floors (672,000 SF), and our designers created lighting solutions throughout for private attorney offices, open secretarial stations, the conference center, reception areas, elevator lobbies and corridors.