Smith Group Designs New Language Center

CHICAGO — The new Sandi Point Errant Language and Culture Center at the University of Chicago was recently completed, marking the first in a series of improvement projects planned for the campus.

The 18,000-square-foot center is the prototype for nine new construction and renovation projects planned at the university to modernize classroom space, provide mechanical, plumbing and electrical upgrades to existing buildings and incorporate a more energy-efficient design.

Designed by Smith Group, of Chicago , the center is located in Grant Hall, an existing 1960s-era classroom building that required significant structural and interior upgrades before being converted into a modern language facility.

“The university challenged us to design a prototype classroom building that would help transform the 1960s campus into the 21st century, while maintaining its mid-century modern aesthetic,” says Louis Raia, design principal with SmithGroup.

To streamline the building’s look, architects removed and replaced the three-story hall’s exterior wall system. Formerly clad in precast concrete panels with limited window placement, the hall now features a façade of floor-to-ceiling windows that offer students views of the campus and the downtown Chicago skyline.

In addition to providing visual access to the outdoors, the transparent façade also improves the building’s energy efficiency. The window system’s low E-glass allows for natural daylighting, reducing campus energy costs. Adjustable fabric mesh shading helps filter and control incoming daylight to prevent solar glare.

The renovation, completed by Joseph Construction Company, of Lynwood , also provided interior upgrades, such as mechanical, electrical and plumbing improvements. A new geothermal heat pump system will provide more energy-efficient heating and cooling inside the building. The heat pump system will utilize the relatively constant temperature beneath the Earth’s surface to transfer heat to the building or remove it from the building using a system of pipes and a carrier fluid that circulates throughout the facility.

The geothermal system is the first sustainable heating and cooling system on campus, officials say.

The building’s new décor is designed to promote cross-cultural awareness. A palette of blues, greens, reds and other colors is intended to show the cultural diversity of the center’s education programs, while also enhancing wayfinding throughout the building, officials say.

Foreign language students have access to smart classrooms, a writing and tutoring lab, language labs and real-time foreign language broadcasts of TV transmissions from other countries. Additional features include two multimedia classrooms equipped with computers and flat screen TVs, a seminar room with wireless projection and Internet capability, and computer lab with tablet PCs and the latest educational language software.

Named for the late Sandi Port Errant, a local philanthropist and community leader, the project was funded in part by private donations and a grant from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, which helped defray the cost of the geothermal system.