Forefront Structural Engineers

Forefront Structural Engineers opened in Chicago in 2007, right as the recession hit, and the firm says it still managed about 20% annual growth through those years. It works on high-rise residential, mixed-use and cultural buildings, and it’s built a real specialty in mass timber: its portfolio includes The Edison in Milwaukee, billed as the tallest mass-timber student housing project in the U.S., and the Salt Shed music venue in Chicago. Forefront is structural engineer for the first phase of Foundry Park, JDL Development’s $3 billion plan for the former Finkl steel site on the North Branch of the Chicago River. Phase one broke ground Oct. 21 with Power Construction as GC and Hartshorne Plunkard as architect.

The retention figures are what set this firm apart, and Forefront publishes them: over 98% business retention, 25% new business relationships annually, and roughly half of all work arriving by direct referral from owners and developers to their architects. That describes a referral-driven practice rather than a bid-driven one, and it shapes what gets taken on.

Reach is wider than the Chicago base implies — projects in 8 states and 12 countries.

Two technical specialities stand out. Mass timber is one, with extensive design experience stated directly. The other is adaptive re-use of historic buildings, carried alongside modern new-build work. The firm says it particularly excels on projects requiring careful thought, creative structural engineering and practical experience, which reads as self-selection toward difficulty rather than volume.

The sustainability work is unusually deep for a structural consultant. Projects are designed to Passive House guidelines, one is seeking certification with the International Living Future Institute, and the firm cites a tower cutting carbon emissions by more than half while using 45% less energy than typical high-rises. Structural engineers rarely own numbers like those; here they are published as the firm’s own.

The current board runs from 5 City Boulevard, a 15-storey cast-in-place concrete office tower in Nashville, to the Salt Shed in Chicago — the former Morton Salt plant turned music venue — plus 25 E Washington, the Robey and Hollander hotels, the Viceroy hotel tower, 167 N Green, Christ Church and INTRO Cleveland. Architect and developer clients named on the site include Hartshorne Plunkard, Goettsch Partners, Gensler, Lamar Johnson Collaborative, Neutral Studios, Antunovich Associates, HBRA, Present Future Architects, geniant + EastLake Studio and JDL Development.

The stated design priority is well-coordinated gravity and lateral systems supporting both performance and flexibility over the life of a building, rather than the lowest-tonnage answer at tender. The process is summarised in three words the firm uses throughout: collaborate, innovate, transform. The name is meant the same way — a stated goal of setting the modern standard for structural engineering.

The office is at 25 E. Washington Street, Suite 1450, Chicago, on 1.312.376.1140.