Leslie Ventsch

Leslie Ventsch AIA, LEED AP

Leslie Ventsch, Director of Design, has more than 30 years of experience in design. He oversees architectural design teams on local and international projects, which currently include 1 Dubai, Park Gate, 1 Park Avenue, Meraas Tower, and Masdar Headquarters, all in the United Arab Emirates.

Prior to joining AS+GG in 2006, Les was an associate in the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, where he designed and built a wide range of projects in the United States, the United Kingdom, Korea, the Philippines and the Middle East.

Les has particular expertise in the programming and design of cultural facilities. He has contributed to the design of world-renowned venues including Symphony Center, Civic Opera House and Ravinia Festival in Chicago, Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin, Texas, and Avery Fisher Hall in New York.

Les's career also includes tenures at Opus North Development and Holabird & Root in Chicago; F.S. Platou in Oslo; and Mitchell/Giurgola Architects in Philadelphia.

Education

North Dakota State University, Fargo, Bachelor of Architecture, 1972
University in Oslo, Arkitekhoyskolen, Guest studies in environmentally responsive building design, 1977-79

Affiliations

American Institue of Architects
LEED Accredited Professional
Chicago Architectural Club

Awards + Honors

2011 National AIA Honor Award, Regional and Urban Design, Chicago Central Area DeCarbonization Plan
2010 Arabian Property Award for Architecture, Mideast Region, International Property Awards, Masdar Headquarters
Construction Week Awards, Sustainable Design Award, Masdar Headquarters, 2008
Cityscape Architectural Awards, Best Environmental Concept Award, Masdar Headquarters, 2008
Middle East Architect Awards, Green Project of the Year, Masdar Headquarters, 2008
AIA Chicago Chapter Interior Architecture Award, Citation of Merit, for Korea World Trade Center, 2001
Gold Medal, City of Seoul, Korea, for Korea World Trade Center, 2001
ASHRAE Excellence in Engineering Award for Korea World Trade Center, 1998
AIA award for Ravinia Park renovations/additions (at SOM), circa 1994
Burnham Prize, American Academy in Rome, 1986

Major projects at Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture:

Confidential Chicago Theater
Architectural design for major Chicago theater company includes renovations and additions to existing structure. Chicago, Illinois

Chicago Central Area DeCarbonization Plan
Commission from the City of Chicago for a complete “Energy Master Plan” that assesses and looks at innovative solutions for the carbon performance of the downtown area Loop using a holistic urban design approach. Chicago, Illinois

Willis Tower Greening Project + Hotel (Formerly Sears Tower)
Integration of sustainable systems to lower energy consumption at this landmark tower. Also, design for highly sustainable, 50-story five-star hotel, to be built on the south side of Willis Tower plaza. The hotel will draw net zero energy from the power grid. Chicago, Illinois

Masdar Headquarters Development
Positive Energy building (generating more energy than it consumes) in zero carbon, zero waste city outside of Abu Dhabi. Project includes office and residential space, retail, transit circulation and incorporates landscaped green space. Masdar City at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

1 Dubai
Three-tower, supertall mega-structure includes luxury hotels, condominiums, offices, retail and cultural facilities. Dubai, United Arab Emirates

1 Park Avenue
Supertall tower with podium complex includes luxury hotel, condominiums, offices and retail. Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Park Gate
Ensemble of six mid-rise office buildings linked with canopies, enclosing a central garden space. Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Meraas Tower
Supertall mixed-use tower with faceted facade. Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Verde Residences
49-story, 1.35 million sf luxury residential tower, including duplex townhouses, 4 stories of office space and retail along a harbor promenade. Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Verde Offices
32-story, 820,000 sf office tower featuring including verdant sky gardens and podium offices. Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The Mansion
Luxury residential tower at the Burj Dubai development. Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The Grand Boulevard
Residential complex part of Burj Dubai development, includes luxury residences, retail, office space, and a 450-seat performing arts theatre. Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Elphinstone Mills
60-story Class A office tower and retail podium in downtown Mumbai, designed to a LEED Platinum standard. Mumbai, India

Jupiter Mills
Luxury residential high-rise tower. Mumbai, India

Vancouver Residences
Luxury low-rise residential complex with eco-footprint of "one". Vancouver, Canada

Hotel Yugoslavia
Mixed-use waterfront development, including hotel, residential and office space, retail and health club. Belgrade, Serbia

Clean Technology Tower
Proposed 60 story tower in downtown Chicago. Project is designed to eliminate its negative impact on the environment and could potentially provide excess energy. Chicago, Illinois

Eco-Bridge
Proposed 2-mile breakwater, completing the last major recommendation of the 1909 Burnham Plan. The bridge, which includes wind turbines, provides a grand civic space and showcases Chicago's commitment to sustainability. Chicago, Illinois

Franklin Point
3.5 million sf mixed-use development along Chicago River. Chicago, Illinois

Burj Dubai Gatehouses + Function Island
Security gatehouses and event space for the Armani Spa Hotel at Burj Dubai development. Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Coatesville Office Complex
80,000 sf office complex. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

AS+GG Offices
Interior design of 11,000 sf office space centered around dual interior courtyards. Chicago, Illinois

Major projects completed as Associate at SOM, prior to joining Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture:

King Abdullah Economic City
Master Plan for new city for 2,000,000 inhabitants, on the Red Sea, north of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. City will be a modern community comprised of industrial, residential, office & financial, educational, commercial, resort, port facility and governmental agency facilities. Saudi Arabia, 2006

Russia Tower
Competition entry for the design of a 134 story, 648 m landmark tower consisting of a five star hotel, office space, luxury residential units, retail space and gardens. Moscow, Russia

Rockwell Center
Master planning, Architectural Design and Design Development for a 10.8 million sf residential, office, retail and hotel uses. Manila, The Philippines, 1996

Korea World Trade Center
Master plan and design for convention center, office and hotel complex. Seoul, Korea

YMCA Headquarters Programming Study
Programming study for potential new mixed-use headquarters complex. Analyzed the possibility of including the following components: offices, conference center, museum and archives, visitor accommodations and a fitness center.

Kirkland & Ellis
Interior Design for law office headquarters. Chicago, Illinois

Jesse Brown Medical Center
200-bed inpatient expansion to the existing VA Westside Medical Center including new Departments for ICU, Surgery and Emergency Medicine. The 8-story, 240,000 sf building achieves a creative allocation of space, establishing a new entry sequence and clearly articulated wayfinding on the tight, urban site. Chicago, Illinois, 2007

Denver Medical Center
Master plan for Department of Veterans Affairs replacement facility adjacent to the former Fitzsimons Army Medical Center. Project includes new bed tower for acute inpatient medicine, ambulatory care, surgery, psychiatry, long-term care and spinal cord injury unit; a research laboratory, structured parking, energy plant and warehouse facilities. 1.8 million sf. Aurora, Colorado

Elmhurst College Performing Arts Center
Design for 80,000 sf performing arts and educational complex with 1200 seat concert hall and 175 seat theatre. Elmhurst, Illinois

Long Center for the Performing Arts
Architectural services for the renovation of performing arts facilities, including a 2,400-seat theater, an 800-seat theater and a smaller studio theater, 7,000 sf of office space and 2,000 sf of donor/patron space. Austin, Texas

Lyric Opera of Chicago
Master planning, design and construction documentation for restoration and renovation of current performance facilities, 345,000 sf.Chicago, Illinois, 1996

Chicago Symphony Center
Renovation of Daniel Burnham's 1906 Orchestra Hall and restoration of the historic Chapin Gore Building for Chicago Symphony Orchestra administration space and approximately 130,000 sf of new construction to provide musician and patron amenities. Chicago, Illinois, 1997

Ravinia Festival
Master planning and architectural renovation of an historic outdoor music venue including outdoor pavilion, indoor theater and extensive grounds. Highland Park, Illinois, 1993

Les Ventsch on…

…design
I like to create spaces for people. Even as a child, I made very creative snow forts in North Dakota. And I need a tactile result; the goal is not the documentation but the actual space/object.

…where he finds inspiration
Everywhere—in music, the environment.

…his favorite "moment" in architecture
The most powerful moments for me have been upon entering spaces where several senses were triggered. Entering Notre Dame in Paris with Messiaen on the organ; entering Yorkminster Cathedral with the boys' choir rehearsing; entering a Norwegian stave church with the primitive smell of tar pitch evoking visions of Viking longships.

…his favorite city architecturally
In the Western world, Vienna—a birthplace of modernism overlaid on a medieval core all wrapped in the complexity of Viennese ambiguity.

…his favorite thing about a collaborative design process
The excitement of seeing a product arise from multiple ideas—the product becoming more than the sum of the participants.

…the accomplishment he's most proud of at AS+GG
Hopefully it's in creating a work environment where play is valued as a creative tool.

…what he'd be if he weren't an architect
An architect.

…what he's doing when he's not designing
Singing, riding a bicycle, attending meetings. Not all at the same time.