CHICAGO BUILDING CONGRESS 2021 MERIT AWARD FINALIST
The College of DuPage Administrative Building Remodel is the renovation of a 22,500 SF pre-engineered steel building into an administrative center, relocating several of the College’s departments from aging facilities at the main campus. The building will have customized suites for multiple administrative departments for the College, with each suite each functioning autonomously, with their own conference rooms, supply rooms, and offices. To encourage collaboration and interaction between these administrative programs, shared core spaces are provided, such as a lounge areas in main corridors, a fifty person conference room, and shared break room. These suites are located within the building according to the amount of visitors they are expected to receive, with Procurement Services located near the main entrance, and more private suites such as Planning and Research located near the rear entrances.
The Student Center at Oakton Community College transforms underutilized classrooms and offices into an exciting and energetic space that serves to enhance the college experience for students, offering opportunities to develop interpersonal and leadership skills and become actively involved in the College community. Located at the heart of campus, the main parti of the project functions as a visual link from the centrally located cafeteria directly across the student street to the nature preserve outside. The floor to ceiling glass walls were angled to maximize views to these nature areas previously hidden from view. These walls were patterned with tall grass, alluding to the view to the lake beyond. Highlighted by linear lighting, the wall acts as a both a line for the eye to follow, and a divider between private offices and public student gathering spaces. The floor plan achieves a balance between public and private space separation, circulation through the space from the adjacent student street, and prioritizing views to the outside. Located in a forest preserve, reclaimed wood is used as a feature material. A faux fireplace was requested by the student body, and was inset in a band of solid surface, and is accessible from a service panel behind the wall. All furniture in the student work areas connect to wall mounted monitors, allowing students quick connections to display their screens and collaborate. Lighting scenes for theatrical productions, guest speakers, or film viewing were provided. An exterior patio area was included in the design, allowing the program to spill outside and towards the nature area.
The Waubonsee Community College Student Life Link was an open invitation to submit a design proposal for a new student center that would double as a connection from the College’s cafeteria across an undulating field to the campus library. The “Convergence” design proposal is an attempt to sustain the existing campus landscape while simultaneously highlighting its features to strengthen the spatial experience of the addition. The solution is a single-story building that creates a bridge from the existing campus buildings, floating over an existing flood plain that sustains a protected grass wetland to the north and maintaining the existing rolling field. The angular shape of the building is a response to the assemblage of trees immediately to the west, which creates a geometry that allows a constant distance from the trees while also highlighting them as a feature of the building, placing them as a backdrop for program to take place. The geometry of the building also directs thoroughfare inside the building to campus landmarks, such as the lake to the southwest, and a tree line to the northeast. The College had concerns about the addition being too dominant visually. In response, the facade is reflective to minimize the buildings impact on the quad. In combination with ceramic frit, the building has a varied character depending on the direction of approach experienced.
The result of collective feedback from the University of Chicago for a station that alluded to the Gothic Revival vernacular of the campus, and the Hyde Park community for a station that integrated arched geometry, the Rhythm Design Option proposes a bold yet appropriate entrance for the community and University. Beginning with a unique interpretation of gothic architecture, the proposal intends to reinvent the spatial qualities of the gothic nave without conforming to literal gothic forms or shapes. The result of which creates a space with the spatial qualities of gothic architecture while conforming to the site limitations imposed by the program. The vertical repetition of a gothic cathedral is manipulated to create a rhythm that communicates the singular program of the train platform, and creates a transition from the cavernous viaduct below to the open platform above. This combined with the signifier of the gothic arch and traditional building materials that are associated with gothic architecture are the catalyst for how the space evokes a relationship to larger gothic spaces. Ultimately the space becomes an event that is echoed below the underpass by existing arches, and throughout the campus, and vice versa, becoming a page in the architectural story of the community.
The College of Lake County Autobody Shop Renovation was the re-purposing of an existing pre-engineered steel storage building into a 13,000 SF state-of-the-art autobody educational space. The new program includes reconditioning, repair, and painting of all things automotive. Renovation included a new floor slab, new mezzanine area, new classrooms and restrooms, office spaces, new mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, repairing the existing building envelope, and refurbishing existing garage openings.
The Pace ADA Paratransit Headquarters is a 15,500 SF office build-out of a previously abandoned floor at the 547 W Jackson Bldg. in Chicago Illinois. The renovation project was a collaboration between Pace and Metra, to create a welcoming space for staff while offering a technological leap forward to better serve a growing clientele. The project includes an incident command center that doubles as a 50-person training room, conference rooms, an open office area with 38 workstations, and a state-of-the-art GPS monitoring system that can be displayed across 26 monitors and 3 projectors throughout the space. The finished space now serves the largest vanpool program in the U.S., and is the regional ride-sharing administrator for Northeastern Illinois.
The Rothstein Warden Centennial Learning Center is a 73,000 SF multi-program campus addition to Rosalind Franklin University in North Chicago. Lower floors include student amenities such as a gym, dance room, student store, and game rooms. The first floor holds tenant offices, classrooms, meeting rooms, and dining areas integrated into the Student Union that is part of the main campus building. The upper floor provides large active learning lab classrooms with occupancies ranging from 100 to 300 students. These active learning labs provide instructors the technology needed to transition from small group learning to collegiate lectures without adjusting room configuration.
The facade of the Learning Center was inspired by Dr. Rosalind Franklin’s pivotal achievement of uncovering the structure of DNA. The staggered narrow window patterns are reminiscent of the aesthetic of DNA and RNA sequencing. The glass windows adjacent to white metal paneling were chosen to create a stark contrast similar to DNA sequencing printed on paper. This is further emphasized by the use of dark precast adjacent to white metal panels.
The Thompson Hall dormitory building at Western Illinois University received a full envelope renovation to remedy an energy inefficient envelope that was aging and affecting thermal comfort. The 19 story, 800 dormitory building received a new insulated metal panel and curtain wall system across all elevations, along with a new entrance canopy and masonry facade at street level.
The design of the curtain wall was inspired by the existing structure, slabs of concrete bearing on an offset column grid, and the dormitories to the interior. Each dormitory has an operable window for fresh air, while maintaining an optimized ratio of vision glass to insulated glass spandrels.
Rehabilitation of Ravinia Train Station in Highland Park, Illinois.
Originally designed by Frost and Granger, and built in 1889 by the Highland Park Fire Department, the Metra Ravinia station is the oldest surviving train station on Metra’s northern and northwestern corridors. This 100+ year old station was suffering from a failing roof and envelope system. The root cause was a lack of air circulation through the attic and under the cedar wood shake. Improvements included rehabilitating the wood siding, new roofing, new intake and exhausts through the attic, new flashings, gutters and downspouts, and a refurbishing of the terracotta ornamental ridge cap.
Juntos en El Paraíso (Together in El Paraise) is a place for the residents of El Cantón and the surrounding communities to heal. The goal of Juntos en El Paraíso is not only a place to get well, but also is a hub for the community to gather and create a support network.
The campus-approach of the design provides a seamless experience between the health clinic (first phase) and the community center (second phase). The health clinic addresses the need for health services in the community. The site aims at creating a welcoming and intimate ambience for patients and families. The open courtyard and garden between the buildings allow people to relax and enjoy nature. The design of the health clinic also incorporates the use of local materials, solar energy harvesting, on-site rainwater collection and waste management.
The community center will share the same design strategies and construction methodologies as the health center. Upon completion of both facilities, Juntos en El Paraíso will be the center that helps create a sense of belonging for the communities in the region.
