Innovative Projects Honored by Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Awards

Studio Gang Architects Receives First Place for striking and functional design of SOS Children’s Villages Lavezzorio Community Center; Second and Third Place Go to Projects by LCM Architects, LLC and Kennedy King Architects, LLC

Chicago is a city with a vibrant architectural legacy well known for the richness of design in its many diverse neighborhoods.  Such architecture sets a character for the neighborhoods as well as an environment in which families live, children learn, business grows and people assemble in their civic life. Reflecting perhaps the ultimate synthesis of great design and great need, the 2009 Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design was awarded to three groups of architects, each for their design of a development devoted to improving the quality of life through the built environment.

At the 15th Annual Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards held on February 9th, Studio Gang Architects was awarded First Place for their design of the SOS Children’s Villages Lavezzorio Community Center in Englewood, a symbolic focus for a community dedicated to providing homes for foster children. LCM Architects was awarded Second Place for design of the near north side Access Living Headquarters and Kennedy King Architects was awarded Third Place for the new Kennedy-King College in the heart of Englewood.

First Place - $15,000

Studio Gang Architects for SOS Children’s Villages Lavezzorio Community Center

The international organization SOS Children’s Villages brings a unique approach to foster care, where siblings stay together and live with professionally trained foster parents in a supportive community.  The Villages always bring an asset to the neighborhood as well; in Chicago, the organization’s first urban location, SOS Children’s Villages began the Lavezzorio Community Center in a building that is as unique and effective as the services and programs it houses. Located in Auburn Gresham, the building is a symbolic focus for a community dedicated to providing homes for foster children.

The building was designed by Studio Gang Architects; a striking structure both inside and out, it provides spaces that are equally open and inviting and also safe and secure, reflecting the organization’s focus on fostering stability and growth in its residents and the community.

“Our vision was to build a center that offers both security and hope – a place for children and families to grow,” said Tim McCormick, President of the Children’s Villages. “With the help of Studio Gang Architects and the entire Auburn Gresham community, this vision has become a reality.”

Many of the building’s bright, airy spaces have multiple uses, providing SOS with the flexibility to serve the needs of it residents and the surrounding community alike.  The interior spaces provide an atmosphere that is protective and uplifting.  The wide lobby stairs can function as classroom seating or an impromptu stage, and the community room on the second floor does triple duty as a classroom, exercise room and meeting space.

The location of the building places the Lavezzorio Community Center in a position that showcases its unique qualities of sculptural finesse and material invention.  Creative detailing and unforeseen use of materials reinforce the innovative quality of the building, providing an inspiration to its community.  The “strata wall” at the entry allowed the building to use donated, recycled supplies without compromising structural or aesthetic integrity, increasing sustainability and reducing cost.

“We wanted to provide a facility that everyone can use,” said 17th Ward Alderman Latasha Thomas, whose support helped make the project a reality.  “It’s truly a part of our community now.”

Second Place - $3,000

LCM Architects, LLC for Access Living Headquarters

Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago, an organization that advocates for disability rights, now has a headquarters that embodies its mission and philosophy of integration, access, openness and integrity.  Designed to support and advance people of all levels of ability, the building’s many innovative design strategies make it the paragon of universal design as well as sustainable design within Chicago.

“We began by meeting with people with many kinds of disabilities to identify the challenges each faces when using commercial buildings, then worked to address these challenges creatively and cost-effectively,” said John Catlin and Richard Lehner, Partners of LCM Architects. “We wanted our end result to make a bold statement about the possibilities of inclusive and socially sustainable design.”

While the exterior of the building is sensitive to its surrounding neighborhood in terms of scale, materials and massing, the most inspiring innovations are on the interior.  With myriad features that make the spaces and their functions visible, audible, chemically neutral and easy to navigate for people of all statures and levels of mobility, the building follows the principles of universal design by allowing easy accessibility for all users.  From large elevators with plenty of room for multiple wheelchairs to smooth floors and lighting helpful to those with limited vision, the design details make the building easy and intuitive to use, regardless of an individual’s ability.

A high priority was set on sustainable materials and environmentally sound paint, adhesives, solvents and carpet that eliminate air contaminants.  A green roof tops the building while natural and efficient lighting set by automated controls from daylight sensors allows the building to reduce energy consumption by at least 25%.  Its Gold LEED rating is only a part of its total attainment of design excellence.

“We are proud to have built and to work in a building that addresses the needs of all users,” said Marca Bristo, President of Access Living. “We hope others can learn that Universal Design combined with Green Design equals socially responsible design.”

Third Place - $2,000

Kennedy King Architects, LLC for the new Kennedy King College

The new 40-acre Kennedy King College campus, designed by Kennedy King Architects, LLC, a partnership of Johnson & Lee, Ltd. and VOA Associates Incorporated, provides an element often lacking in urban colleges: a language of buildings with a dignity that reflects the seriousness of purpose inherent in the institution.

In detail the spaces are comfortable and the flow of activity clear and well considered.  Athletic facilities, an academic building and a library framing a tree-lined quadrangle bring a uniquely collegiate atmosphere to the heart of Englewood.  Other state-of-the-art facilities – including a new culinary school, theater, TV and radio studios, and laboratories – will become an academic model for institutions across the city and beyond.  The masonry buildings, acres of green space and abundant trees are an asset to the College and all who use it.

“Our vision for the design was to evoke the feeling of a traditional American university,” said Chris Lee of Johnson & Lee. “By adapting the language of collegiate architecture to an urban setting, we were able to open up the campus to the entire community.  For example, it has a traditional quadrangle that opens up to Halsted Street as a way to connect with the surrounding neighborhood.”

The campus represents a stunning reprisal of the area on 63rd and Halsted, which at one time was a main commercial artery.  Today, it brings to the Englewood community a bookstore, graphic services and day care center that are open to the general public, as well as the elegant, student-run Sikia Restaurant, the first full-service restaurant in Englewood in decades.

“The new Kennedy-King College elevates education in the community and the community has responded,” said Dr. Wayne D. Watson, chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago.  “Enrollment was up over 46% in the fall of 2007 when it opened and an increase in enrollment has been experienced each semester subsequently.”

The project was community-oriented from its inception.  The campus planning process included community members at every step, and construction involved neighborhood and minority workers.  Construction also employed a range of sustainable materials and systems, including a green roof covering 70,000 square feet of roof space.

The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design is presented annually at the Community Neighborhood Development Awards (CNDA).  Established in 1995, CNDA recognizes outstanding achievements in neighborhood real estate development and community building, especially the achievements of community development corporations, other community-based organizations and for-profit developers working to build healthier neighborhoods in the Chicago metropolitan area.

This year’s ceremony, held at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, attracted more than 1400 people, including CNDA Event Chair John A. Canning, Jr., Chairman of Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC, and leaders of Chicago’s non-profit, corporate and philanthropic sectors.  The February 9th awards ceremony was preceded with a performance by The Second City comedy troupe.

“The ceremony and the attendees represent not just the importance of community development work in Chicago, but the diversity and strength of the partnerships that make our neighborhoods work so well,” said John A. Canning, Jr., Chairman of Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC and Chair of this year’s event.  “The programs, projects and people honored this year are models for all of Chicago and the nation.”

The principal sponsors for this year’s awards include: Apollo Housing Capital/RBC Capital Markets; Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen, P.C.; Bank of America; Brinshore Development; Camiros, Ltd.; Charter One; Chase; Chicago Bears; Chicago Community Loan Fund; The Chicago Community Trust; Citibank; Cole Taylor Bank; Community Investment Corporation; Coniston Consulting; Enterprise Community Investment, Inc.; Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago; The Habitat Company; Harris; Holsten Real Estate; Illinois Housing Development Authority; LISC /Chicago; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Matanky Realty Group; MB Financial Bank; Miner, Barnhill & Galland; National City; National Equity Fund; Northern Trust; Park National Bank; Peoples Gas; Private Bank; Related Midwest; Reznick Group; The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation; S.B. Friedman & Company; ShoreBank; State Farm Insurance; Urban Development Fund, LLC; US Bank; and The Walsh Group.