The Academy for Global Citizenship is a Chicago public charter school located in the Garfield Ridge neighborhood that takes an innovative and holistic approach to educating its students. With such a unique approach to learning, a unique building in which the learning could take place was also needed.
That is where Studio Gang came in and designed a campus that combines the qualities of an educational institution with those of an urban farm to create a space for students to learn first hand about wellness and sustainability. According to Studio Gang’s website, the new campus is meant to work in tandem with the school’s mission to provide “a model for educational innovation that has the potential to ignite a global movement for change.” AGC’s current campus, which consists of two buildings separated by a busy road, was not adequately suiting the goals of the school.
According to ArchDaily, the proposed design combines indoor and outdoor learning environments that are laid out around a central courtyard. Instead of separating the different areas of the school with strict boundaries, the areas, while still separated by age groups, are designed to overlap and combine for flexible use and collaboration. Additionally, a “wonder path” connects each environment, both indoor and outdoor, to provide a direct route to various hands-on laboratories and learning stations.
Rendering courtesy Studio Gang
Since sustainability and wellness are such strong components of the schools focus, it needed a campus that reflected those goals. As such, the school hopes to achieve net-positive status, meaning it will produce more energy than it uses. To accomplish this, the school will use a combination of solar energy, greenhouses and seasonal gardens (meant to produce a significant amount of the food used to prepare the students’ meals), stormwater management, natural ventilation, and geothermal systems.
The urban farm will cover three acres and is designed in partnership with Growing Power, a national nonprofit organization that helps provide safe and affordable food for people in all communities. The farm will be integrated into the daily curriculum and will connect students with the food cycle, allowing them to participate in farming, food preparation, and animal care.
Continuing the theme of sustainability and wellness, AGC and Studio Gang plan to use building materials and finishes that are locally sourced and have low-embodied energy. The building itself is oriented to provide peak solar access for the outdoor learning spaces and greenhouses and also to maximize the school’s photovoltaic energy collection.
The campus is meant to be a literal representation of the school’s educational strategy that goes beyond just being a structure where learning can occur to become an actual part of the learning process.
Rendering: Studio Gang
Rendering: Studio Gang
For more pictures and renderings of the project, click here.
Related Stories
| Apr 2, 2014
8 tips for avoiding thermal bridges in window applications
Aligning thermal breaks and applying air barriers are among the top design and installation tricks recommended by building enclosure experts.
| Apr 1, 2014
Hawaiian performing arts center named nation's best new theater
Seabury Hall Creative Arts Center, a prep-school performing arts center on Maui in Hawaii, received the United States Institute for Theatre Technology's (USITT) highest architecture award—the Honor Award.
| Mar 26, 2014
Callison launches sustainable design tool with 84 proven strategies
Hybrid ventilation, nighttime cooling, and fuel cell technology are among the dozens of sustainable design techniques profiled by Callison on its new website, Matrix.Callison.com.
| Mar 20, 2014
Common EIFS failures, and how to prevent them
Poor workmanship, impact damage, building movement, and incompatible or unsound substrate are among the major culprits of EIFS problems.
| Mar 17, 2014
Rem Koolhaas explains China's plans for its 'ghost cities'
China's goal, according to Koolhaas, is to de-incentivize migration into already overcrowded cities.
| Mar 12, 2014
14 new ideas for doors and door hardware
From a high-tech classroom lockdown system to an impact-resistant wide-stile door line, BD+C editors present a collection of door and door hardware innovations.
| Mar 4, 2014
If there’s no ‘STEM crisis,’ why build more STEM schools?
Before you get your shorts in a knot, I have nothing against science, technology, engineering, or even mathematics; to the contrary, I love all four “STEM” disciplines (I’m lying about the math). But I question whether we need to be building K-12 schools that overly emphasize or are totally devoted to STEM.
| Feb 26, 2014
Adaptive reuse project brings school into historic paper mill
The project features nontraditional classrooms for collaborative learning, an arts and music wing, and a technologically sophisticated global resource center.
| Feb 14, 2014
Crowdsourced Placemaking: How people will help shape architecture
The rise of mobile devices and social media, coupled with the use of advanced survey tools and interactive mapping apps, has created a powerful conduit through which Building Teams can capture real-time data on the public. For the first time, the masses can have a real say in how the built environment around them is formed—that is, if Building Teams are willing to listen.
| Feb 5, 2014
'School Security' PDF available to BD+C readers - CORRECTED
I've received several requests from BD+C readers who design and build K-12 schools about the 3-part series we ran in our January issue ("Can Design Prevent Another Sandy Hook?"). They wanted to send the issue to their school boards and other public officials with responsibility for school safety. In light of the importance of this topic, as a special service to our readers we're making the series available in PDF form.
