The Chicago design community is always buzzing. From events happening around town to news coverage that can’t be missed, there’s a lot to keep track of in the Windy City. In this weekly news roundup, AD PRO has everything you need to know.

Product Launches

Gil Melott Debuts Capsule Collection

Interior designer Gil Melott, owner of art and vintage furniture showroom Studio 6F, just released a new furniture line, Gil Melott Bespoke. “This collection rose out of a necessity to find classically shaped forms with a modern twist, in a scale that is appropriate for use within city projects,” Melott tells AD PRO. “The pieces are rich with memories and emotion, incorporating materials and ideas familiar to my youth, like refined bronze and metal fabrication, solid traditional woodworking and joinery, and fabrics that have a distinct heritage.” The collection is available in store at Studio 6F and online.

Business

Sophia Bush and Chicago Designer Lauren McGrady Launch New Design Company

Chicago designer Lauren McGrady, owner of the Rider boutique, teamed up with actress Sophia Bush to open Filles de Rincón, a design consulting business. McGrady and Bush worked together to design the West Loop apartment Bush was living in while filming Chicago P.D. Their new venture offers interior design services and will eventually include custom products.

Openings

Chicago Hotel Prepares to Reopen After Renovation

The Drake Oak Brook, an extension of the Drake Hotel on Michigan Avenue, will reopen in early 2020 after a multimillion-dollar renovation. New York–based firm Celano Design worked on the interiors. The hotel has 154 new rooms, a bar, a Sinatra-inspired lounge, a library, and 10 acres of gazebos and fountains. Design highlights include the original 1960s terrazzo floor and velvet chaises in the lobby, a Flower Room with hundreds of glass-blown flowers, and a one-ton wooden reception table, hand-carved by Mexican artist Oscar Martín García Crisanto.

Corelle Brands Opens Showroom in The Mart

Corelle Brands will open a new multipurpose space in The Mart next March. The Creative Kitchen Studio will host product and cooking demonstrations as well as special culinary events. Corelle, the maker of Pyrex and Instant Pot, among other brands, hopes to deliver a more hands-on experience to its customers. The Mart space will also serve as an office for the brand, which is headquartered in Rosemont.

Sub-Zero Renovates and Reopens Glendale Heights Showroom

Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove will reopen its showroom in Glendale Heights this week. The redesigned space features 70 appliances on display in remodeled vignettes designed to provide ideas and design inspiration to customers.

Preservation

Bronzeville Church Advances Toward Landmark Status

A Romanesque Revival church—the only Chicago house of worship designed by Edbrooke and Burnham—is on its way to achieving landmark status. The Landmarks Commission voted to give the structure preliminary status last week, according to Curbed Chicago. The Bronzeville church features arches and an Indiana limestone façade, and has been an important gathering place in the neighborhood for 135 years. A city official told Curbed the landmark status was “an explicit effort to preserve black culture in Bronzeville.”

Awards

727 West Madison Keeps Winning Awards

Morgante Wilson Architecture and FitzGerald Associates Architects took home four awards from the Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago for their 727 West Madison luxury apartment building. The Chicago Apartment Association also awarded the building two CAMME awards for Innovative Design and Studio/Efficiency/Convertible Model Under $15,000. The model was decorated by Cort Furniture.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest