Chicago, IL, United States
Located in the heart of Pilsen, two abandoned buildings share a large green backyard that sits adjacent to what will be the starting anchor of the neighborhood’s Paseo trail. JGMA was challenged to transform this block into a new creative office campus. It’s position relative to the Paseo presents opportunities for connection and community engagement, making this campus not only for the private entities that will occupy it, but a public plaza for the neighborhood. Future local tenants, such as 5 Rabbit Cerveceria, help anchor the building at the plaza level with the surrounding community.
This new campus provides contemporary work spaces for all employees with flexible work areas, meeting areas, amenity spaces, as well as ample restaurant facilities and a day care center for employees. The entire project represents more than 400,000 sqf. of contemporary office and a new plaza celebrating the work of artists in the Pilsen area.
The design strives to connect the buildings in order to create a campus feel, which is achieved using an interconnected linear geometry that wraps up and over the building. Rather than maintaining each building’s separate street side entry, the new design strategically locates the entries to both building inside the new plaza, linking them internally and encouraging people to process through the plaza prior to entering.
Local artists will be commissioned to create the murals in partnership with the National Museum of Mexican Art, giving the plaza a sense of place and furthering the plaza’s mission of collaboration and community engagement.
AWARDS + RECOGNITION
