City Colleges of Chicago Harold Washington College requested a transformative plan to accommodate their vision for the school’s Reinvention Campaign in 2016. The aging 290,000 SF building is reimagined as a state-of-the-art learning environment through internal restacking and expansion of its program spaces. Its facades feature new cladding symbolizing porosity and permeability, evoking the school’s role in the students’ absorption of knowledge. The distinctive new look establishes the college as the northern anchor in Chicago’s downtown higher education district.
Thanks to our client City Colleges of Chicago and subconsultants E.C. Purdy & Associates, Liska + Associates, and Hoffman Visualization.