JGMA won the competition to design the Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy High School (IHSCA) in Chicago, Illinois for the Institutio del Progreso Latio. The program is for a charter school that will serve 600 youth from Chicago communities. It will be the first career academy in the state of Illinois dedicated to health sciences. The new facility will also provide serves to consolidate existing programs under the Instituto.
More on this project after the break.
The new design for the IHSCA will be at the site of an existing building. It will consist of repurposing the 3-story brick and heavy lumber building into a contemporary, state-of-the-art learning academy. The facility will house classrooms, science and computer labs, health careers and family resources centers, a community clinic with social worker and psychologist careers and exam rooms, library, dining/multi-purpose room, fitness center, and administrative and conference spaces. The programs are arranged so as to promote learning and casual interaction between students and faculty.
The facility’s design is inspired by its health related programs. The existing brick façade will be clad in a new high performance “skin” that will use a rain screen and technological means to improve the thermal performance of the building envelope. The project has been designed to achieve a minimum LEED Silver certification and represents the epitome of sustainability through carbon footprint reduction and reutilization of vacant/existing buildings in urban centers. Currently under construction, it is scheduled to open in Fall 2011.
Architects: JGMA (moreno architects) Location: Chicago, Illinois Owner: Instituto Progreso Latino Design Team: Juan Gabriel Moreno, Cosmin Vrajitoru, John Rausch, David Ruffing, Linda Chavez, Michael Cady Design Builder: McShane Construction Project Area: 100,000 sf Renderings: Courtesy of JGMA Services: Programming/Planning, Architecture, Interior Design, Sustainability Program: Educational, Office, Community Based Type: Repurpose / Transformation of existing building
