New University of Illinois-Chicago Venue Designed for LEED Gold

By SCN Staff

CHICAGO—The design of the new Computer, Design, Research, and Learning Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) was recently released by architecture firms LMN Architects and Booth Hansen. The building has been designed to achieve LEED Gold certification.

Located at a unique prominent site on campus, the 135,000-square-foot center will consolidate the currently fragmented Computer and Science Department into a new home and co-locate it with a large cluster of university-administered classrooms at the heart of the east campus.

The building has been designed to be an inclusive and inviting space for the diverse student body. A public research university, UIC is one of the most diverse universities in the U.S.

The building will serve research needs with state-of-the-art facilities, accommodate the rapidly increasing undergraduate enrollment in computer science, and become a new campus hub.

Construction will begin in Spring 2021. With a slated completion date of Spring 2023, the new building will double its capacity. As a hub for both engineering and computer science, it will include research areas comprised of faculty offices, collaboration areas, a dry lab and specialty lab, administrative and student affairs office spaces, collaborative teaching and learning spaces for undergraduate and graduate students, an undergraduate learning and community center, and a flexible events room all connected by a five story daylit atrium.

“Together with the department, University, and CBD (Capital Development Board), our team of LMN and Booth Hansen have designed the building to become a welcoming hub, a building that embraces the old and presents an iconic new presence along Taylor Street,” said LMN Partner Stephen Van Dyck, AIA, in a statement.

Added Booth Hansen Principal David Mann, “Throughout the design process, we have been inspired by the convergences that this project represents. At the heart of it all is the convergence of UIC’s mission and the region’s growing Tech prominence. For so many in the region, this new building will symbolize opportunity. The new building will be located adjacent to one of the original Netsch buildings, near other College of Engineering facilities and Memorial Grove. This unique site allows for an innovative design that is inspired by the context, materiality, and qualities of precast concrete material,”

The project for the UIC is being administered by the Capital Development Board and will be bid to single prime contractors. Subcontractors will bid through the prime contractors. The cost of this project is not being disclosed at this time prior to bidding.