Designed by Leo Steif in 1923, the Ralph J. Pomeroy Apartments sat vacant in Chicago’s historic Bryn Mawr district for six years until renovations began in 2010. Now, as part of the Chicago Housing Authority’s Plan for Transformation, the Pomeroy Senior Apartments building is CHA’s flagship senior living center on the city’s North Side.
The original brick, terra cotta, and limestone façade was inspected and restored, keeping the look consistent with the other buildings in the historic neighborhood. New windows and a bronze entry canopy were constructed, complementing the design vocabulary.
The entire interior of the building was renovated, from the first floor lobby and common areas, to the rooftop spaces. The number of living units was reduced from 120 to 104 to allow for more space per unit and comply with current accessibility requirements.
PROJECT SUMMARY
POMEROY SENIOR APARTMENTS
Chicago, Ill.Building Team
Submitting firm: Pappageorge Haymes Partners (architect)
Developer: Chicago Housing Authority
Associate architect: Architrave Ltd.
Interior design: Koo & Associates
Structural engineer: Matrix Engineering Corp.
Mechanical/electrical engineer: The Engineering Studio
Civil engineer/Landscape architect: Terra Engineering
Sustainability consultant: Grumman Butkus Associates
Environmental consultant: GSG Consultants Inc.
General contractor: James McHugh Construction
Construction manager: d’Escoto Inc.General Information
Size: 118,522 sf
Construction cost: $31 million
Construction time: January 2010 to August 2011
Delivery method: Design-bid-build
For added security and accessibility, the entrance of the building was moved from the busy Hollywood Avenue frontage to a quieter side street. The new entrance offers a direct view into the main-floor outdoor courtyard and a connection between the interior and exterior common areas.
The roof terrace is now accessible via a relocated staircase and elevator core. Here, residents can take advantage of private gardening and an outdoor space with views of Lake Michigan, as well as an indoor penthouse recreation room.
The Pomeroy project is tracking LEED Platinum certification through the use of geothermal wells, solar thermal and photovoltaic panels, heat recovery systems, green vegetative roofs, high-performance windows and envelope insulation, stormwater control, and Energy Star appliances. More than 90% of construction waste was diverted from landfill.
“They did it well,” said Reconstruction Awards Judge Keith Hammerman, PE. +
Related Stories
AEC Business Innovation | Jul 11, 2021
Staffing, office changes at SCB, SmithGroup, RKTB, Ryan Cos., Jacobsen, Boldt, and Adolfson & Peterson
AEC firms take strategic action as construction picks up steam with Covid openings.
K-12 Schools | Jul 9, 2021
LPA Architects' STEM high school post-occupancy evaluation
LPA Architects conducted a post-occupancy evaluation, or POE, of the eSTEM Academy, a new high school specializing in health/medical and design/engineering Career Technical Education, in Eastvale, Calif. The POE helped LPA, the Riverside County Office of Education, and the Corona-Norco Unified School District gain a better understanding of which design innovations—such as movable walls, flex furniture, collaborative spaces, indoor-outdoor activity areas, and a student union—enhanced the education program, and how well students and teachers used these innovations.
Multifamily Housing | Jul 7, 2021
Make sure to get your multifamily amenities mix right
One of the hardest decisions multifamily developers and their design teams have to make is what mix of amenities they’re going to put into each project. A lot of squiggly factors go into that decision: the type of community, the geographic market, local recreation preferences, climate/weather conditions, physical parameters, and of course the budget. The permutations are mind-boggling.
Industrial Facilities | Jul 2, 2021
A new approach to cold storage buildings
Cameron Trefry and Kate Lyle of Ware Malcomb talk about their firm's cold storage building prototype that is serving a market that is rapidly expanding across the supply chain.
Multifamily Housing | Jun 30, 2021
A post-pandemic ‘new normal’ for apartment buildings
Grimm + Parker’s vision foresees buildings with rentable offices and refrigerated package storage.
Architects | Jun 30, 2021
Perkins Eastman joins forces with MEIS
MEIS’ work on stadiums and entertainment centers spans the globe with state-of-the-art designs in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
Architects | Jun 25, 2021
AIA announces Small Project Award recipients
Now in its 18th year, the AIA Small Project Awards program recognizes small-project practitioners for the high quality of their work.
Architects | Jun 24, 2021
Post-pandemic, architects need to advocate harder for project sustainability
An AIA-Oldcastle report looks closer at the coronavirus’s impact on design and construction
Resiliency | Jun 24, 2021
Oceanographer John Englander talks resiliency and buildings [new on HorizonTV]
New on HorizonTV, oceanographer John Englander discusses his latest book, which warns that, regardless of resilience efforts, sea levels will rise by meters in the coming decades. Adaptation, he says, is the key to future building design and construction.
Multifamily Housing | Jun 23, 2021
COVID-19’s impact on multifamily amenities
Multifamily project teams had to scramble to accommodate the overwhelming demand for work-from-home spaces for adults and study spaces for children.