2011 Design Award Winner
Preservation / Adaptive Reuse - Merit in Architecture

Elgin Community College Multi-Purpose Classroom Building

 

 

 

 

 

 

The challenge in this project was to relocate the college’s existing Adult Basic Education Center, Adult Workforce Transition and several other related departments from an off-site location to the main campus. To further complicate matters, the site acquired by the school contained two separate, windowless industrial buildings that would be the new home for the programs.

The solution was to link the two buildings with a serpentine addition in a design inspired by the concept of the “learning curve.”

Fenestrations were punched into the entire perimeter to flood the interiors with subdued, natural light. The roofs were lifted to introduce clerestories to the interior classrooms and the large study atriums. The bricks on the newly combined buildings were stained to be consistent and an angled addition was added to the south end to create a primary relationship with the main campus. 

The transformation from dark, industrial warehouse buildings to a naturally lit, functional educational space was successfully accomplished.

 

 

 

 

 

 


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