flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

IBEW Local 134 Union Hall: Union lights a 'beacon'

Reconstruction Awards

IBEW Local 134 Union Hall: Union lights a 'beacon'

Electrical workers’ local converts an abandoned Chicago school into a brightly lit union hall.


By David Malone, Associate Editor | November 28, 2018
IBEW Local 134

The LED illumination acts as a welcome sign to the community, while calling attention to the IBEW’s professional trade. Paul Schlismann Photography.

Drake elementary school was one of 47 elementary schools decommissioned by Chicago Public Schools in 2014, due to declining student enrollment. The building, constructed in the 1960s in the Bronzeville neighborhood, south of the Loop, attracted the interest of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 134, which was looking to move out of its West Side union hall.

The IBEW local brought in Wight & Company, which performed a feasibility study using cloud point laser scanning, structural testing, and geotechnical testing to verify that the school could be transformed into the proposed new use.

The 70,000-sf project involved 48,000 sf of renovation and 22,000 sf of new construction. The structure was heavily reconstructed to accommodate business offices, lounges, conference rooms, a museum, and a rooftop patio. Memorial Hall, the 22,000-sf addition, can seat 1,000 and can be easily reconfigured for events ranging from banquets to training. The addition also houses a gymnasium that is open to local residents.

Sustainability features include architectural overhangs to control solar heat gain, as well as permeable pavers and rain gardens for stormwater detention. And, of course, LED fixtures that connect back to a central lighting system.

Naturally, light plays a key role in the new building. Not only does it represent the union’s trade, it also creates an ambient backdrop at the entry plaza and into the mass of the union hall.

IBEW logos measuring 25 feet in height were printed on the exterior glass and backlit by LED lights. This creates a “firefly” effect to attract community members to the building, now known affectionately as “the Beacon of Bronzeville.”

 

Silver Award Winner

BUILDING TEAM Wight & Company (submitting firm, architect, SE, MEP, CM) International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 134 (owner) DETAILS 70,000 sf Total cost $25 million Construction time October 2016 to March 2018 Delivery method Design-build

Related Stories

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 11, 2016

Exclusive Chicago club re-emerges as a boutique hotel

Built in 1893 for the World’s Columbian Exposition, the CAA was an exclusive social club founded by leading figures in American sports and commerce.

Reconstruction Awards | Dec 1, 2015

Massive Chicago parking garage gets overdue waterproofing

Millennium Lakeside Garage, the largest underground parking facility in the U.S., hadn’t been waterproofed since the 1970s. The massive project took nearly 2½ years and 33,554 man-hours.

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 30, 2015

Washington Monument restored after 2011 East Coast earthquake

This restoration and repair project, which was completed under budget and eight days early (despite several setbacks), involved re-pointing 2.5 miles of mortar joints, repairing 1,200 linear feet of cracks, and installing 150 sf of Dutchman repairs. Construction took place from November 2011 to May 2014.

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 30, 2015

Denver's 107-year-old seminary campus modernized

The scope of the project included the seminary dorms, library, and chapel, all of which posed their own set of obstacles.

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 24, 2015

Center of I.M. Pei-designed plaza part of Washington redevelopment

The L’Enfant Plaza, a three-story below-grade mall, was renovated to include a new glass atrium pavilion and a 40-foot-long, interactive LED.

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 24, 2015

Manhattan's first freestanding emergency department a result of adaptive reuse

The Lenox Hill Healthplex, a restoration of the Curran O’Toole Building, has glass-block walls and a carefully preserved exterior.

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 19, 2015

Nave restored at Yale’s Sterling Memorial Library

Turner Construction and Helpern Architects revived the 150-foot-long nave, which was embellished with stained glass windows by G. Owen Bonawit, stone carvings by René P. Chambellan, and decorative ironwork by Samuel Yellin.

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 19, 2015

Infinite Chicago redevelopment bridges past to present

The renovation of three historic downtown buildings—the Gibbons and Steger Buildings and Pickwick Stables—includes a multi-level concrete walkway connection.

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 18, 2015

Sun Theater serves the youth of St. Louis

Lawrence Group and property owner TLG Beaux Arts raised $11 million to restore the 26,000-sf theater into a modern performance venue.  

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 17, 2015

Smithsonian Institution’s Arts and Industries Building again an exposition and museum space

After removing decades’ worth of unfortunate additions to expose 17 historic interior spaces for the National Historic Landmark, the Building Team zoned in on the client’s key concern.  

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category


Giants 400

BD+C Awards Programs

Entry information and past winners for Building Design+Construction's two major awards programs: 40 Under 40 and Giants 400



halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021