Overview
Who doesn’t know the classic check patterns, the soul of the British luxury brand Burberry? Now the brand icon has transcended itself from the fashion products showcased to its architectural expression. This week let us visit the Burberry flagship store in Chicago, Illinois and explore how stainless steel is applied to the building.
Burberry Chicago
Burberry Chicago is a 5-story flagship store built on the site of a former Burberry store at 633 N Michigan Avenue, along the city’s Magnificent Mile at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Ontario Street. Completed in December 2012, it boasts over 16,000 square feet of retail space. The immense size makes it not only the largest Burberry store in USA, but also the biggest glass building the Burberry company has ever invested.
The Background Information of Burberry Chicago
In 1856, Burberry was founded by Thomas Burberry in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England with an initial focus on the development of outdoors attire. With 170 years of history up to date, it has grown proudly into a leader in fashion industry all over the world from its humble beginning.
To solidate Burberry’s status and role as a primary international luxury brand, Christopher Bailey, the then Chief Creative Officer (CCO), led a global transition in the early 2000S. Burberry Chicago was just one of these core initiatives to increase Burberry’s global business footprint.
The Design of Burberry Chicago
Burberry Chicago was designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz and associates, Chicago, Illinois, with the CCO Christopher Bailey as the leading role. As put by Christopher, "What we’re trying to do is bring this kind of beautiful, architectural side of Burberry to a pretty incredible part of the city and, in a way, immerse it in a bit of Britishness that also feels quite modern" (Archello 2026).
To match the new brand strategy of modern-meets-heritage, the architects were inspired by the idea of a package wrapped in glossy black paper and silver ribbon. It turned out to be a modern Burberry store with its exterior walls composed of glass and metal in a pattern that reflected the Burberry’s signature tartan pattern. To enhance the visual experience, the check pattern was also decorated with LED lights, throwing light on the black glass underneath and recreating the pattern in illuminated, three-dimensional forms.
Stainless Steel Applied to Burberry Chicago
Glass-and-metal façade is nothing new for contemporary buildings, but creative designs never fail us. As in the case of Burberry Chicago, the most common grade 304 stainless steel is applied to the architecture, yet it makes such a difference because of the bold color.
According to ISSF (2025), stainless steel was chosen because the specific coloring processes for this material could keep the authentic metallic quality of the substrate. 1mm thick stainless steel strips in black mirror PVD coated finish were supplied by the local firm A. Zahner Company located in Kansas City, Missouri.
Stainless Steel from CIVMATS China
It seems stainless steel coloring flat products ranging from stainless steel sheet plate coil to strip have gained momentum in architecture field, just perceived from the cases we’ve introduced for consecutive weeks. It feels like we can still expect more of stainless steel market potential.
If you happen to be in the market for stainless steel materials, ranging from stainless steel sheet plate coil strip to long products stainless steel tube pipe, bar, wire and ropes, please feel free to contact CIVMATS in China. Our sales engineers are your free consultants. Choose CIVMATS, choose reliability and safety.
