H2O+

Chicago, Illinois

  A new building to celebrate multicultural ideas of water and beauty in Chicago.  

A 90,000 square foot head office and laboratory for H20+, a manufacturer and retailer of lotions and potions and soaps, completed in 1996 west of Chicago’s Loop. 

Cindy Melk, the owner and CEO of H20+, worked with Mayor Daley and Valerie Jarrett to create 97 new jobs. The façade mosaic murals of s multicultural myths about water and beauty celebrate the company’s product and the roots of the people that create the products. 

The design scope included the design of facades, a two story office interior and associated furnishings. Designs for the building and interior share a personality with H20+ products and retail stores. 

The facades are composed of insulated, locally precast concrete panels with mosaic murals set into the panels. The panels have waves cast into the concrete. Murals depicting myths about water and beauthy also reflect the mosaic of cultures in Chicago.