flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Reconstruction Awards: Marwen

Reconstruction Awards

Reconstruction Awards: Marwen

Marwen currently offers 100 studio courses to 850 underserved students from 295 schools and 53 zip codes.


By BD+C Staff | November 16, 2016

The Building Team for the Marwen arts campus gutted portions of the space to create a much-needed new vehicular entry and loggia. © Steve Hall / Hedrich Blessing

Marwen is a nonprofit visual arts education center on Chicago’s Near North Side. Founded in 1987 by entrepreneur Steven Berkowitz, Marwen currently offers 100 studio courses to 850 underserved students (grades 6-12) from 295 schools and 53 zip codes. Two-thirds of the students are female; 95% of the students come from low-income families. Marwen also provides free college and career counseling to high schoolers: 91% of graduates get accepted to college.

Wheeler Kearns Architects led the Marwen renovation and expansion. The chief problem was a lack of public presence to the campus. The Building Team created a new vehicular entry courtyard  that allowed for the relocation of the main entrance and the addition of a 950-sf steel-and-glass loggia.

Integrated thermal breaks in the loggia’s steel structure minimize energy loss. An underfloor air distribution system was installed to reduce energy consumption and improve indoor air quality. The new loggia provides a safe and visible gathering space for students and new public gallery space to showcase student work.

 

Basement Mixed Media Studio. Natural light is borrowed via clerestory windows adjacent to the Fashion/Fiber Studio. Steve Hall / Hedrich Blessing.

 

PROJECT SUMMARY 

 

Silver Award Winner | Chicago, Ill.

Building Team: Wheeler Kearns Architects (submitting firm, architect); Thornton Tomasetti (SE); Terra Engineering (CE); Wolff Landscape Architects; Lux Populi (lighting); and Power Construction Co. (GC).

Details: 16,060 sf. Construction cost: $3.4 million. Construction time: January to October 2015.  Delivery method: Design-build.

Related Stories

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 13, 2017

Harlem Renaissance: A vacant school provides much-needed housing and a clubhouse for children

Word that PS 186 might be demolished brought out the preservationists, whose letter-writing campaign gained the support of the New York Landmarks Conservancy.

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 16, 2016

BD+C's 2016 Reconstruction Award Winners

St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Lovejoy Wharf, and the Bay Area Metro Center are just a few of the projects recognized as 2016 Reconstruction Award winners.

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 16, 2016

Reconstruction Awards: The Renwick Gallery of The Smithsonian American Art Museum

The renovation restored two long-concealed vaulted ceilings in the second-floor galleries and recreated the original 19th-century window configuration.

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 16, 2016

Reconstruction Awards: Massachusetts Maritime Academy

The two-story “overbuild” employed block and plank construction with drag strut detailing to connect it to the existing building.

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 16, 2016

Reconstruction Awards: The Masonic Temple

The building team suspended a new eighth-floor mezzanine and added 18 9x15-foot windows to the north, south, and west façades.

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 16, 2016

Reconstruction Awards: San Francisco War Memorial Veterans Building

The building team used a system of rocking concrete shear walls, which eliminated the need for deep foundations and reduced the shear force on each wall.

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 16, 2016

Reconstruction Awards: Arc at Old Colony

The Arc at Old Colony's vintage floor plans, voluminous lobby, and myriad elevators were perfect for redevelopment as a historically charming residential building.

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 16, 2016

Reconstruction Awards: Noble Chapel

In May 2013 the 124-year-old Noble Chapel, suffered a three-alarm fire that almost completely destroyed its 1937 crematorium.

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