Project Name: SOS Children’s Village Community Center

>>Community center reunited siblings of foster families<<

Project Type:
6) architecture

Project Mission/Goal:
5) Other: Respond to our growing need for education and community services

Project Description:
SOS is an international social service organization initiated after World War II to help reunite orphaned siblings separated by war. Today SOS continues to reunite siblings into foster-care families and provide housing and services to those families. The community center, opened in October 2007, is used as a hub of activities for foster-care families, countless community organizations, and educational enrichment programs that focus on personal growth.

As an approach to the project, with its limited budget of $3.5 M, the design team explored unconventional applications of ordinary materials. Many in-kind material donations such as concrete were pursued as a strategy to complete the building. This circumstance inspired the design for a large striated concrete wall for the building’s exterior. Despite its modest construction cost, the ‘strata wall’ results in an unprecedented use of cast-in-place concrete, creating horizontal layers that become visible like strata in rock.

The site is a donated sliver of land squeezed between two elevated train lines given by the City of Chicago, cleared and remediated with help from the State of Illinois. With its carefully positioned large-scale openings in the building’s exterior, each of the urban approaches are given vistas to active program areas inside the building. Inside, an extra-wide stair in the lobby doubles as classroom seating and an impromptu stage for performance. The entwined stairs crisscross the lobby and connect to the large community room and computer lab on the second floor. Their geometry and scale, intended to activate the space, acts as a giant three-dimensional jungle gym for children to navigate.

Sustainable design approaches are employed throughout the building. Access to natural daylight is maximized through the central courtyard, around which the child daycare rooms are organized. A passive solar orientation is employed to decrease solar heat gain in summer utilizing overhangs on south facing glass and minimizing glazing on west and east exposure. Increased insulation in walls and slabs and a white roof to decrease cooling loads are employed. Day-lighting and natural ventilation are integrated into classrooms. Accepted material donations such as countertops rejected from another jobsite and headed to landfills are integrated into the design.

Since completion, the SOS Community Center has had a ripple effect on the surrounding neighborhood, including adjacent building improvements, landscaping, and improved pedestrian environment. In addition, the building has been welcomed into the neighborhood by residents. It was given the 2009 Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Excellence in Community Design, a High Commendation at the World Architecture Festival in 2008, a Distinguished Building and Divine Detail Citation of Merit from AIA Chicago in 2008, and the 2008 Best Building Award from the Building Congress of Chicago. The project has been featured in Architectural Review (2009), The Chicago Sun Times (2009), The Chicago Tribune (2008), and as a Building Types Study in Architectural Record (2008).

Links / Captions:
http://www.studiogang.net/projects_b2.htm

Project Details:
Location: Chicago, IL
Lead Architects/Designers: Jeanne Gang, FAIA, and Mark Schendel
Project Architects: Beth Kalin, Julianne Wolf, Miriam Neet, YuTing Chen, Thorstan Johan, Schuyler Smith, Lynda Dossey, Jay Hoffman
Year(s): 2004-2007
Client: SOS Children’s Village of Illinois
User Client: SOS Children’s Village of Illinois
Number of beneficiaries/users: Over 425 community members use the space
Project Phase: Completed
Major Funding: Monetary and Material Donations
Cost: $3.5 million
Area: 16,000 sf
Structural Engineers: Thorton Tomasetti
Electrical/Mechanical Engineers: Sachin Anand
Contractor/Manufacturer: Bovis Lend Lease

Nominated by Kate C

Location