The Architect you Hire and do they have the right skillset, open-mindedness, experience and humility to ask the question “Are we solving the right problem?” before pushing ahead on something that may not be the right solution, fit, sustainable or be financially prudent?
The blank sheet of paper can be the most terrifying of opportunities for a designer. But the blank sheet of paper also has the most potential for increasing the bottom line and the common good. For instance, here in Lincoln Park a local architect who mainly designs luxury housing designed–what do ya know!–a 59 foot tall luxury development with classrooms stuffed into it. It requires displacing 15 families and tearing down a 15 unit apartment building who homes are an average of 2300 sf. The demolition, the dust, the loss of embodied carbon, the risk of harming the neighboring historic buildings including one designed in 1910 by Dwight Heald Perkins, whose son went on to found Perkins and Will outweight any benefits? In fact, is there a better way forward of Parker and the neighborhood?
Or a number of us–a diverse team–who work build large, complex $100 million plus construction projects, geothermal conversions and on school projects came together to present an alternative that supports Parker’s desire to expand but is also a win for the neighborhood and, ultimately, Parker’s bottom line? First we are expanding on Parker’s existing spacious 6 acre property. We propose filling in a 13,565 sf corner–the school’s architect innaccurately claimed it was 7,500 sf–where Parker once had a building. (See the 1896 Sanborn map and the red polygon.)
How? We will dig into the numbers...
So have a look at some of these fantastic images in the meantime.
#FrancisParker #AldermanTimmyKnudsen #ward43 #Chicago #ChipVonWeise #SustainbleChicago #chicagolandmarks #stopparker #chicagolandmarks #midnorthassociation
The blank sheet of paper can be the most terrifying of opportunities for a designer. But the blank sheet of paper also has the most potential for increasing the bottom line and the common good. For instance, here in Lincoln Park a local architect who mainly designs luxury housing designed–what do ya know!–a 59 foot tall luxury development with classrooms stuffed into it. It requires displacing 15 families and tearing down a 15 unit apartment building who homes are an average of 2300 sf. The demolition, the dust, the loss of embodied carbon, the risk of harming the neighboring historic buildings including one designed in 1910 by Dwight Heald Perkins, whose son went on to found Perkins and Will outweight any benefits? In fact, is there a better way forward of Parker and the neighborhood?
Or a number of us–a diverse team–who work build large, complex $100 million plus construction projects, geothermal conversions and on school projects came together to present an alternative that supports Parker’s desire to expand but is also a win for the neighborhood and, ultimately, Parker’s bottom line? First we are expanding on Parker’s existing spacious 6 acre property. We propose filling in a 13,565 sf corner–the school’s architect innaccurately claimed it was 7,500 sf–where Parker once had a building. (See the 1896 Sanborn map and the red polygon.)
How? We will dig into the numbers...
So have a look at some of these fantastic images in the meantime.
#FrancisParker #AldermanTimmyKnudsen #ward43 #Chicago #ChipVonWeise #SustainbleChicago #chicagolandmarks #stopparker #chicagolandmarks #midnorthassociation