GreenBean

The Morse Theater

Location
1328 W. Morse, Chicago Map

Owner
1328 Morse LLC

Architect
Greene & Proppe Design

The Morse Theater is a renovation of a nearly-abandoned 1912 Nickelodeon theater building into a 299-seat music venue and a 99-seat restaurant (The Century Public House). The renovation includes all-new interior structure and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, including addition of a mezzanine bringing the total building area to 18,000 sf. The building has been through a variety of uses and hard times, so it's encouraging to see a local owner take interest in this type of rehab and make it green as well. Renovation projects are notoriously complex and expensive, and this project is no exception - it even includes a difficult expansion of the existing basement.

Bolingbrook High School

Location
365 Raider Way, Bolingbrook Map

Owner
Valley View Public School District 365U

Architect
Wight & Company

When it opened in 2004, the new Bolingbrook High School became the first LEED certified high school in Illinois, and only the third in the entire country.  The 568,000 square foot facility, designed to accommodate 3,600 students, was completed on an expedited schedule though a unique design-build process, with Wight & Company serving as the architect, civil engineer, and general contractor.  This facility is just one example of the large and growing movement to build and certify green schools.  In many cases, the buildings themselves become part of the curriculum, reflecting the importance of education in the green building movement.

353 N. Clark

Location
353 N. Clark Map

Developer
Mesirow Financial

Architect
Lohan Anderson (Design)
Epstein (Architect of Record)

353 N. Clark is a new 45-story, 1.1 million sf speculative office tower anchored by Mesirow Financial and law firm Jenner & Block. The project is LEED for Core and Shell precertified for Silver certification. As I've indicated before, I expect that most major office towers downtown will now earn LEED certification, as evidenced by the growing list of peers to this project.

Welcome Jon!

Please welcome Jon Wright as GreenBean's suburban contributor! We're excited about expanding our coverage area outside of Chicago city limits with Jon's assistance. See Jon's first entry below, the Ford Engineering Design Center at Northwestern.

Jon is a civil engineer, urban planner, and promoter of sustainable development who grew up in Nebraska and studied civil engineering and economics at Northwestern University in Evanston. He currently lives downtown and works on infrastructure design and site development at Knight Engineers and Architects.

Ford Engineering Design Center

Location
2133 Sheridan Rd, Evanston Map

Owner
Northwestern University

Architect
Davis Brody Bond

The Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center is the first building on Northwestern University’s Evanston campus built specifically to target certification in environmental sustainability.  The 84,000 square-foot educational and laboratory structure was designed by architects Davis Brody Bond of New York and built by general contractor Turner Construction.  A team from the Rocky Mountain Institute, one of the preeminent leaders in resource efficiency and sustainable design, served as a special consultant to the University throughout the project.

Flashpoint Academy

Location
28 N. Clark Map

Owner
Flashpoint Academy

Architect
Valerio Dewalt Train Associates

Flashpoint Academy is a new media arts and sciences school occupying 58,000 sf on two floors (plus a small storefront street-level space) in the Burnham Center (aka 111 W. Washington). The two-year school will offer four areas of study: cinema, recording arts, gaming and animation - their new space includes classrooms, computer labs, recording facilities, a directing stage, a screening room, an information commons, a motion-capture studio, and student lounges to support these studies. The project is seeking LEED-CI Silver certification, and similar to the Spertus Institute, demonstrates that a sleek, contemporary design can still be green - you don't have to live and work in a hobbit hole to be green.