Goettsch Partners

GP’s Julide Bozoglu, PhD, Int’l Assoc. AIA, will be speaking at AIA Chicago’s TAP Plug-In Series: “Strategies That Stick — Making AI and Digital Tools Work for Your Firm” on Tuesday, September 22, from 5:00–7:30pm at our Chicago office (224 South Michigan Avenue, Floor 17).

The conversation will explore the role of AI and digital tools in architectural practice, with a focus on practical strategies, project delivery, and lessons learned from implementation.

Learn more and register here: https://aiachicago.org/aia-events/tap-plug-in-series/.

We are pleased to share that COFCO Qianhai Innovation Center in Shenzhen, China, has been named to the Dezeen Awards 2026 architecture shortlist in the Workplace Project (large) category.

Selected from more than 4,300 entries spanning 91 countries, the project is among 19 architecture projects shortlisted for this year’s awards.

The Dezeen Awards recognize outstanding architecture and design from around the world. We are honored to see COFCO Qianhai Innovation Center included among this year’s shortlisted work.

Search “Dezeen Awards” to learn more about the project.

MGM Shenzhen Prince Bay officially opened its doors last week in Shenzhen, China. The 31-story, 298-key luxury hotel anchors the Prince Bay development with a distinctive architectural presence shaped by its waterfront setting and views toward Shenzhen Bay. We are proud to celebrate the opening of this new addition to Shenzhen’s growing hospitality landscape and to recognize the teams and partners who helped bring the project to life.

MGM Hospitality
LTW Designworks

GP took to the Chicago River for our annual summer outing, bringing together good food, music, cocktails, and some friendly competition. The afternoon included a cruise aboard Chicago’s First Lady and our annual GP Bags Tournament, making for a memorable day on the water with colleagues.

We are pleased to announce that James & Elizabeth Bramsen Tropical Forests at Brookfield Zoo Chicago is a finalist in the AIA Chicago 2026 Lerch Bates People’s Choice Awards, in partnership with the Chicago Architecture Center, in the Cultural & Museum category.

We share this recognition with the Zoo team and our project partners, whose collaboration helped bring this transformative habitat to life. We invite you to vote through September 16 at AIAChicago.org/vote. Join us as this award is conferred at Designight 2026 on Thursday, October 1, 2026 – all are welcome.

Brookfield Zoo Chicago
Cullen Construction Management
Stantec
Pepper Construction Group
V3 Companies
WSP in the U.S.
Primera Engineers
CharterSills
KIRKEGAARD
Photography by Thomas Harris

Ten years ago, Hangzhou Marriott Hotel Qianjiang opened its doors along the western bank of the Qianjiang River. The complex's angular twin towers, a 348-key hotel and a 51-unit serviced apartment building, take their fractured, stepped forms directly from the gardens beside them, while a rippling, wave-inspired glass façade nods to the river just beyond. It's a design that turns site constraints into character, grounding reflective glass towers in dark granite and framing river views from nearly every room.

A decade later, we are proud to celebrate this landmark project's milestone anniversary!

We are proud to announce that GP's Alcove is a finalist in AIA Chicago's Design Excellence Awards in the Architecture Large category.

Alcove is a 34-story, 356-unit residential tower in downtown Nashville, composed as a series of stacked, shifted cubes. The arrangement opens the inner sections of the building and creates four warm-toned alcoves — 75-foot-tall communal terraces facing the skyline to the east and sunsets to the west. GP designed the building as well as the interiors.

Winners are conferred at Designight 2026 on Thursday, October 1, at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. All are welcome to attend the event. Tickets can be purchased at AIAChicago.org/Designight2026.

As featured in Modern Luxury, GP’s Paramount is redefining the Nashville skyline.

Developed by Giarratana LLC, the 60-story residential tower is on track to become Tennessee's tallest building. Rising approximately 750 feet above downtown, Paramount reflects a shared vision to create an enduring landmark that elevates the city's skyline while contributing to its continued evolution as a vibrant urban neighborhood.

With construction advancing at roughly one floor per week, Paramount will bring 500 luxury residences to the heart of downtown Nashville.

Read the full story: https://www.modernluxury.com/tony-giarratana-unveils-paramount-nashvilles-soon-to-be-tallest-residential-tower/

How do you give a hotel privacy and quiet above one of Chengdu, China's busiest public squares?

At Grand Hyatt Chengdu, the answer was siting: setting the 25-story tower asymmetrically atop its podium, so all 370 guestrooms open onto unobstructed views, with stepped gardens offering guests urban terraces unlike anything else downtown.

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of its grand opening this week, the hotel is still an anchor that gives its guests real distance from the city below while staying right in the middle of it.

Congratulations to the key team members who helped bring this landmark project to life:

Chicony Co.
Tonychi and Associates

Construction is well underway on 1111 South Tryon, the next major phase of Charlotte’s Queensbridge Collective development in the South End neighborhood. Rising 43 stories and more than 540 feet tall, the tower will provide around 356,000 square feet of office space and 346 apartments to one of the city’s fastest growing neighborhoods.

As the second tower within the mixed-use Queensbridge Collective complex, 1111 South Tryon will continue shaping Charlotte’s evolving skyline while creating a more connected, pedestrian-focused urban environment. Scheduled for completion in 2028, 1111 South Tryon represents another significant investment in the future of South End and the broader Charlotte community.