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 16, 2016

Reconstruction Awards: Bay Area Metro Center

The structure’s 60,000-sf floor plates made the interior dark and foreboding, and BAHA wanted to improve working conditions for its employees and tenants. 

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 16, 2016

Reconstruction Awards: Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, Brock University

The five-story brick-and-beam structure is an adaptive reuse of the Canada Hair Cloth Building, where coat linings and parachute silks were once made.

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 16, 2016

Reconstruction Awards: The Cigar Factory

The Cigar Factory was originally a cotton mill but became the home of the American Cigar Company in 1912. 

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 16, 2016

Reconstruction Awards: St. Patrick's Cathedral

The cathedral, dedicated in 1879, sorely needed work.

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 15, 2016

Reconstruction Awards: Lovejoy Wharf

After demolishing the rotten wood wharf, Suffolk Construction (GC) built a new 30,000-sf landscaped quay, now known as Lovejoy Wharf.

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 15, 2016

Reconstruction Awards: KETV-7 Burlington Station

The 1898 Greek Revival train terminal, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, had been abandoned for nearly four decades.

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 14, 2016

Reconstruction Awards: The Gallery at the Three Arts Club

On the exterior of the building, masonry and terra cotta were revitalized, and ugly fire escapes on the south façade were removed.

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 14, 2016

Big-box store rescaled to serve as a preventive-care clinic

The hospital was attracted to the big box’s footprint: one level with wide spans between structural columns, which would facilitate a floor plan with open, flexible workspaces and modules that could incorporate labs, X-ray, ultrasound, pharmacy, and rehab therapy functions.

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 14, 2016

Fire-charred synagogue rises to renewed glory

The blaze left the 110-year-old synagogue a charred shell, its structural integrity severely compromised. 

Reconstruction Awards | Nov 11, 2016

Adaptive reuse juices up an abandoned power plant

The power plant was on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.

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