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.
For more pictures and renderings of the project, click here.
Related Stories
| May 24, 2012
Stellar completes St. Mark’s Episcopal Church and Day School renovation and expansion
The project united the school campus and church campus including a 1,200-sf chapel expansion, a new 10,000-sf commons building, 7,400-sf of new covered walkways, and a drop-off pavilion.
| May 21, 2012
Winchester High School receives NuRoof system
Metal Roof Consultants attended a school board meeting and presented a sloped metal retrofit roof as an alternative to tearing off the existing roof and replacing it with another flat roof.
| May 8, 2012
Gensler & J.C. Anderson team for pro bono high school project in Chicago
City Year representatives came to Gensler for their assistance in the transformation of the organization’s offices within Orr Academy High School, which also serve as an academic and social gathering space for students and corps members.
| Mar 5, 2012
Perkins Eastman pegs O’Donnell to lead K-12 practice
O’Donnell will continue the leadership and tradition of creative design established by firm Chairman and CEO Bradford Perkins FAIA, MRAIC, AICP in leading this market sector across the firm’s 13 offices domestically and internationally.
| Dec 27, 2011
USGBC’s Center for Green Schools releases Best of Green Schools 2011
Recipient schools and regions from across the nation - from K-12 to higher education - were recognized for a variety of sustainable, cost-cutting measures, including energy conservation, record numbers of LEED certified buildings and collaborative platforms and policies to green U.S. school infrastructure.
| Dec 5, 2011
RJM Construction begins building Nova Classical Academy in St. Paul
As the general contractor, RJM is constructing the 94,000-sf building that will consolidate the St. Paul school’s two other locations.
| Sep 23, 2011
Under 40 Leadership Summit
Building Design+Construction’s Under 40 Leadership Summit takes place October 26-28, 2011 Hotel at the Monteleone in New Orleans. Discounted hotel rate deadline: October 2, 2011.
| Sep 12, 2011
LACCD’s $6 billion BIM connection
The Los Angeles Community College District requires every design-build team in its massive modernization program to use BIM, but what they do with their 3D data after construction is completed may be the most important change to business as usual.
| Jul 22, 2011
Five award-winning modular innovations
The Modular Building Institute's 2011 Awards of Distinction highlight fresh ideas in manufactured construction projects.