2012 Reconstruction Award Bronze Winner: Pomeroy Senior Apartments, Chicago, Ill.

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.

October 5, 2012

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.

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. +

We offer the following recommendations in the hope that they will help step up the pace of high-performance building reconstruction in the U.S. and Canada. We consulted many experts for advice, but these recommendations are solely the responsibility of the editors of Building Design+Construction. We welcome your comments. Please send them to Robert Cassidy, Editorial Director: rcassidy@sgcmail.com.