Newly formed, Chicago based, JGMA (moreno architects) has been awarded the position of design architect for the United Neighborhood Organization‘s first ground up school in Chicago, Illinois. Additional renderings and a brief architects description after the break.
UNO New Elementary School
The United Neighborhood Organization (UNO) is embarking upon a master plan that will embrace soccer and the notion of soccer as a link between community, family, education, health, and nutrition as the catalyst for this master plan. The first project in this master plan will be the UNO New Elementary School. The school will set the tone for the future development and has been designed to inspire development in the area.
UNO held a widely publicized competition in the summer of 2010 for the design of their first “ground up” School and JGMA (moreno architects) was selected as design architect. The conceptual design emphasizes the connection between land, community and education. Programmatic components include classrooms, gymnasium, multipurpose room, training / exercise areas, roof garden, outdoor and indoor learning theaters, a kinder “garden”, and soccer fields.
The plan has been organized such that students will always experience a connection between the interior (learning environments) and the exterior (community). All corridors are placed along exterior walls and no interior corridors exist. This reinforces the connection between inside and outside. The programmatic spaces are arranged such that there is a continuum between the site, exterior programs, interior spaces, and the UNO Master Plan development. The building appears to be growing out of the ground where programs such as learning theaters and soccer fields frame a courtyard. As the building movements continues upward, programs such as classrooms and teacher areas frame the mid-section of the plan. The plan then culminates in a community center that frames views of the city, inspiring students and neighboring residents to achieve their potential. This creates a movement in plan that provides a variety of scale and spatial experiences for the students and community. The project has been designed to with the goal of LEED silver certification.
Architects: JGMA (moreno architects) Location: Chicago, Illinois Owner: United Neighborhood Organization (UNO) Design Team: Juan Gabriel Moreno, Cosmin Vrajitoru, John Rausch, David Ruffing, Linda Chavez Design Builder/Structural: Ghafari Electrical & Mechanical Consultant: Primera Landscape Architect: Terry Guen Associates Project Area: 62,000 sf Renderings: Courtesy of JGMA
