The After School Matters Orleans project transforms a former Catholic school and antique store into a vibrant, purpose-driven facility dedicated to teen education, creativity, and workforce development. The design reimagines a compartmentalized, aging structure as an open, engaging environment, using transparency, flexible planning, and durable materials to support programs spanning culinary arts, technology, music, dance, and visual arts. A central circulation boulevard unifies the building, encouraging interaction, visibility, and a shared identity across disciplines.

The project presented significant challenges inherent to adaptive reuse, including selective demolition, structural modifications, infrastructure modernization, and accessibility upgrades. Integrating diverse, high-intensity programs within an existing building required careful coordination and problem-solving. Close collaboration among After School Matters, the design team, and construction partners ensured existing conditions were addressed while maintaining schedule certainty and budget discipline.

Safety was a priority throughout construction. A proactive safety plan, clear sequencing, and regular coordination meetings resulted in a strong safety record and minimized disruption to the surrounding neighborhood.

The After School Matters at Orleans project delivers meaningful community impact. It provides equitable access to high-quality learning environments, supports inclusion through diverse programming, and catalyzes reinvestment, establishing a replicable model for youth-focused development across Chicago.

The creative design process for the After School Matters Orleans project began with listening and discovery. Early workshops with students, educators, and program leaders informed a vision centered on flexibility, visibility, and shared ownership. Rather than imposing a single architectural gesture, the design team focused on transforming the existing building into a cohesive environment that supports diverse modes of learning, expression, and collaboration.

One of the primary challenges was reconciling the building’s compartmentalized layout and varied construction eras with the need for openness and connectivity. The design team strategically carved circulation paths and shared spaces through the structure, creating a central organizing spine that visually and physically links programs across floors. Transparency was introduced through interior glazing and open studios, making activity part of the architecture and reinforcing a sense of energy and inclusion.

Complex design elements included integrating acoustically sensitive spaces alongside high-energy programs, adapting structural systems to support new uses, and upgrading building performance within the constraints of an existing envelope. Durable, sustainable materials were selected to balance longevity with warmth, resulting in an aesthetic that reflects both creativity and resilience.

These design strategies produced a facility that is functional, inspiring, and deeply responsive to its users, elevating an existing building into a dynamic community asset.

To achieve the highest standards of quality, the project team implemented a comprehensive quality management plan from pre-construction through final completion.

This included:
– Pre-construction meetings and walkthroughs with awarded trade partners prior to mobilization on site
– Building Information Modeling (BIM) for coordination of MEP/FP trades, including weekly clash detection meetings
– Weekly subcontractor meetings to review scheduling, procurement, RFIs, and coordination issues
– Daily foremen huddles focused on day-to-day field coordination and resolving RFIs
– Third-party visual inspections and independent laboratory testing (ITL) of construction materials such as concrete, fireproofing, steel, and masonry
– Mockups of specific scopes of work as required by the project specifications
– Ongoing communication with the design team to promptly address issues and maintain alignment between design intent and field installations

Notable Challenges During Construction:

Unforeseen Conditions
As is typical with renovation projects, unforeseen conditions were discovered throughout the project that impacted both cost and schedule, including:
– Hazardous materials such as lead paint and asbestos were discovered during demolition, beyond what was identified in the original environmental reports
– Constraints within the existing space resulted in frequent layout adjustments during construction and additional coordination with the design team

BIM Coordination in an Existing Building
– The project team implemented BIM coordination for the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection trades. This was particularly challenging in a renovation environment, requiring extensive field verification to account for existing conditions and to accommodate new installations while maintaining select existing piping and equipment. Unforeseen conditions required the model to be continuously updated to reflect field changes.

Logistics
– Working at the intersection of two busy streets and adjacent to Walter Payton High School required constant adjustments to the project fencing and careful coordination of material and equipment deliveries within restricted time windows. The construction team coordinated two separate street closures on Orleans Street for crane picks for rooftop equipment.

Summer Construction Constraints
– With the project starting in late January and reaching substantial completion in late November, key trades such as ironworkers, roofers, and concrete laborers were impacted by peak summer demand, resulting in limited manpower availability.

– Elevator Shaft Foundations Installation Below the Water Table
 Continuous dewatering operations during construction
 Additional waterproofing measures, such as Waterproofing, Drain Tile
 Coordination and sequencing of earth retention systems (ERS) and elevator foundations in an existing lower level

Atrium Stairwell
– Extensive field verification to integrate new stair steel construction within the existing atrium, connecting 4 levels.

Atrium Smoke Evacuation Testing
– Complying with the atrium smoke evacuation requirements presented challenges due to the irregular shape of the atrium and constraints of the existing space. A total of eight pre-tests were conducted before successfully passing the final test with the Fire Department.

Project Complexity
While no single element of the project was unusually complex, the overall effort was challenging due to the tight schedule and the need to perform work simultaneously in multiple areas – interior and exterior. This required detailed logistics planning and careful sequencing. One example was the main stairwell atrium, where the main landing tied into a new security office and the elevator shaft, where the floor elevation had to be lowered to accommodate the new layout. The same stairwell steel also tied into new steel columns, which supported the entrance curtain wall and front canopy.

Safety was a core priority throughout the After School Matters Orleans project. From preconstruction through project completion, the team implemented a comprehensive safety program that emphasized planning, communication, and accountability.

Given the complexity of renovating an existing building in a dense urban neighborhood, special attention was paid to controlled access, pedestrian safety, and coordination among multiple trades working in confined spaces.

As a result of a proactive approach, the project achieved a strong safety record with no major incidents, injuries, or lost-time accidents. The commitment to safety protected workers, project partners, and the surrounding community while supporting a productive and efficient construction process.

– 36,755 Total Work Hours
– No recordable or workers’ compensation injury

Social Impact
After School Matters serves tens of thousands of Chicago teens each year, with a focus on students from communities that have historically faced barriers to educational and economic opportunity. The Orleans Street project directly advances this mission by providing a dedicated, supportive environment where students can learn, create, and develop real-world skills.

The design emphasizes flexibility and adaptability, allowing ASM programs to evolve alongside student interests and emerging career pathways. For example, this project includes a Wood Shop and Maker Space, given industry projections of future needs for skilled trades in Chicago’s labor force. Learning spaces are intentionally designed to foster collaboration, mentorship, and experiential engagement, reinforcing After School Matters’ educational model. By investing in environments that reflect the dignity, creativity, and potential of the young people who use them, the project strengthens outcomes related to academic confidence, career exploration, and long-term success. Committed to supporting the arts, this property offers additional custom spaces, including a robust Culinary Lab, a fully equipped Blackbox Theater, and an open Dance Studio.

The facility also supports partnerships with educators, artists, and industry professionals, expanding access to mentorship, resources, and experiences that many students would not otherwise encounter. In this way, the project functions as an educational platform that amplifies the reach and effectiveness of After School Matters’ programs across the city.

Community Impact
The After School Matters at Orleans project demonstrates how thoughtful real estate investment can generate meaningful, lasting community benefits. By repurposing space for educational use, the project contributes to neighborhood vitality while addressing critical youth development needs at a citywide scale.

The project’s impact extends beyond its physical footprint. Students who participate in After School Matters programs gain skills, confidence, and paid learning experiences that strengthen Chicago’s future workforce and support economic mobility for families throughout the region. The facility reinforces After School Matters’ long-standing commitment to equitable access to education and opportunity by leveraging the built environment to support social infrastructure.

Through mission-aligned design and purposeful development, the After School Matters at Orleans project exemplifies how education-focused spaces can drive positive community outcomes. For these reasons, After School Matters is a highly deserving nominee for the Community Impact Award.

The After School Matters Orleans project delivers a lasting and meaningful impact on the surrounding community by providing teens with equitable access to high-quality spaces for learning, creativity, and workforce development. Located in an economically disadvantaged area, the project transforms a long-underutilized facility into a safe, welcoming environment that supports personal growth, skill-building, and mentorship.

Inclusion was central to the project’s vision and execution. Programs were designed to serve teens from diverse backgrounds, with spaces that promote accessibility, flexibility, and shared ownership. ASM teen input helped shape environments that feel inclusive and empowering, allowing students to see themselves reflected in the spaces they use. The building’s transparency and openness reinforce connection and belonging, both within the facility and to the surrounding neighborhood.

Beyond its programmatic impact, the project contributes to neighborhood revitalization by reinvesting in an existing building and strengthening local identity. It increases access to educational resources, supports pathways to employment, and creates a positive daily presence in the community. By fostering opportunity, creativity, and inclusion, the After School Matters at Orleans project measurably improves quality of life and serves as a model for equitable development across Chicago.

In 2017, the Elmhurst community passed a $168 million referendum to improve each of their school district facilities. The district buildings underwent an extensive preconstruction effort where each facility was evaluated. The design and construction management team then presented CUSD 205 with various renovation, expansion and new construction options for each building. Field Elementary School was among those considered. The school was more than 100 years old, the library was in the basement, the building was not handicapped accessible and flooding was a concern; so the district opted to replace it in its entirety.

This decision set the community and project team on an exciting multi-year journey rooted in collaboration, communication and ultimately, celebration of their newly completed future-ready school. The architecture and construction management team worked with school administrators to sequence district-wide construction in a manner that allowed students who were displaced during construction to attend neighboring schools within District 205.

The new Field Elementary is an 81,000 square foot, two-level learning environment that incorporates the latest in education design: a large gathering / presentation stair, individual break-out rooms, outdoor instruction and play environments, secured entrances with a dedicated administration wing and LEED Silver Certification.

Field Elementary was one of the oldest and most accessibility-challenged structures in a large, suburban unified school district. The new school replaced a building from the early 1900s with a two-story, state-of-the-art facility. It accommodates up to 600 students, kindergarten through 5th grade, and aligns with modern learning strategies consistent with the district’s mission.

The learning environments in this project were envisioned with the needs of today’s students in mind, contrasting strongly with the previous early 20th century building. Alignment with the way students learn and teachers teach was established through several public community engagement sessions and in-depth teacher/student workshops. The new education environments were developed to embrace different learning modalities and enable flexibility for future changes. Since today’s students learn by doing as a much larger part of their day, space for active learning was needed in grade-level “neighborhood” suites and public areas.

The innovative floorplan creates spatial intimacy and provides the opportunity for customized education in a large school setting. The scale of the academic neighborhoods allows students to feel part of a much smaller group within the greater whole. Ownership to a neighborhood is further strengthened by the unique feeling of each grade level design.

Accent paint, millwork finishes, carpet patterns, and custom signage announce living room entries. Incorporating both enclosed and open student support spaces allows students to remain within their zones for specialized services and project creation. Furniture selections give students choices and provide comfort in their daily activities. Overall flexibility of use contributes to staff and student well-being.

The delivery of a modern education requires more one-on-one and small group interactions as well as access to social emotional learning resources and speech, occupational, and physical therapy. These specialist interactions are distributed throughout the grade levels with the same positive spirit that is attributed to core learning spaces.

The appearance of the school focuses on authentic, shared memories and not on historic reproductions of the old building. The scale and proportions of the masses, roof profile, vernacular material, and color palettes informed the choices made for the exterior rather than designing to any specific architectural style. Fixed and operable windows were placed in the facade with respect to student height and proportion. An entry plaza, a community garden, multiple courtyard teaching spaces, and two outdoor instruction terraces (adjacent to the Art and Maker Space Labs) on the upper level provide students with learning opportunities outside of the typical learning environment.

The construction logistics of Field Elementary School were extremely challenging. A dense neighborhood surrounds the site on three of the four frontages. Additionally, the site is in close proximity to a heavily traveled roadway to the north. From project onset, the on-site superintendents partnered with district administration to communicate with area residents about any construction activities that may impact them. Our team upheld a strong commitment to maintaining neighbor “happiness” throughout the duration of the job and by the conclusion of the project, neighbors went so far as to bring coffee and donuts to our superintendents as a thank you for keeping them well-informed and the disruption minimal.

From a design perspective, although the appearance of Field Elementary is not based on a historic reproduction of the old school, the design team did intend to incorporate elements that paid homage to the former building’s antiquity. Masonry elements from the original building were removed with extreme care prior to demolition of the existing structure. Each of the elements were restored to their original beauty and reinstalled adjacent to the gathering stairs within the new building for all to enjoy.

72,957 man-hours went into the construction of Field Elementary School and there were zero safety incidents. From project onset, members of the construction management team met with school administrators to communicate a detailed logistics plan to all stakeholders. Safety was discussed at weekly subcontractor meetings by both the superintendent and the project manager.

As an added safety precaution, ICI uses a badging system for all workers on the job site. Every worker is issued a bar-coded photo ID badge on the first day they report to the site, and the badge must be attached to their hard hat while on site from that moment forward. The workers scan in at the job site trailer upon arrival each day and scan out at the day’s end. This provides ICI knowledge of every worker on site at all times and adds to an extra level of safety.

The student community benefits are numerous and range from a safe entries, curriculum-flexible media center and interactive dining commons that occupy the heart of the school. These areas also serve as the connective backbone between new program spaces such as enrichment studios for the sciences and arts. Daylight fills major portions of the building; vastly improving the student experience.

Teachers, staff, and administration now work from new, natural light-filled classrooms and a dedicated administration wing.

Field and other District-wide building improvements are drawing new residents and elevating educational delivery for the community. Elmhurst, Illinois, saw steady population growth from 2015 to 2024.

Field Elementary has a compelling mission statement for their students: The mission of Field School is to empower every student to achieve academic excellence and to become a responsible, caring citizen. Field students now have a learning environment that fosters fulfillment of this goal.

In the fall of 2023, Lockport Township High School District 205 experienced a ceiling collapse that revealed a series of life safety deficiencies requiring immediate attention. During the summer of 2024, Berglund Construction served as General Contractor to restore the affected areas, revitalizing the wood-framed structure and installing new ceiling systems.

Following the successful completion of that work, Lockport Township High School District 205 engaged Berglund Construction as Construction Manager as Agent to coordinate and complete additional life safety repairs at the Central Campus. Working closely with the District and DLA Architects, Berglund helped define and develop the scope of work necessary to ensure the facility could continue to safely serve students, staff, and the surrounding community. The resulting scope included masonry lintel replacement, roofing and roof deck replacement, and targeted electrical upgrades.

The LTHS Central Campus is approximately 100 years old, with multiple additions constructed over the course of the past century. The building’s oldest sections showed significant deterioration, including damaged exterior walls and water infiltration. As Construction Manager as Agent, Berglund conducted investigative assessments and determined that numerous masonry lintels required full replacement. The project included the removal, replacement, and flashing of 102 structural lintels, supported by extensive scaffolding erected within the interior courtyard and along the entire north elevation. This work was carefully coordinated while approximately 32,000 square feet of roof and roof deck were simultaneously replaced above.

As noted, Berglund Construction installed new ceilings throughout LTHS Central Campus during the summer of 2024. Because the project team had determined that the existing roof deck also required replacement, a carefully planned installation approach was necessary to avoid damaging the newly installed ceilings.

Working closely with DLA Architects, the team developed a solution that allowed the roof deck to be mechanically fastened rather than fully welded. This approach provided greater flexibility during installation and made it possible to leave the existing third-floor classroom ceilings in place, protecting recent work while successfully completing the roof replacement.

At this site, the work required extensive scaffolding, needle shoring, and selective opening of existing masonry walls, an intricate and demanding process that called for both expertise and detailed planning. This is where our 115-years of experience came into play.

During construction, the team discovered that portions of the parapet walls were not properly secured and required reconstruction. Four classrooms were located within what was originally an assembly hall with lofted ceilings. These ceilings were wood framed and part of an outdated truss system that supported the roof and masonry parapets. Over time, this system had begun pushing the parapet walls outward rather than holding them plumb.
After determining that the parapets needed to be rebuilt and the interior framing required additional support, Berglund Construction worked closely with DLA Architects to develop a restoration solution. Because these conditions were identified too late in the summer to complete the work before the school year began, construction had to be carefully coordinated while classes were in session. Through detailed planning with Lockport Township High School District staff, the team completed the new framing work efficiently and safely, allowing the affected classrooms to reopen just a few weeks into the school year.

Safety performance on this project was exceptional. Despite working six to seven days a week throughout the summer and logging thousands of man-hours, the project was completed with zero lost time incidents. This outstanding record reflects the strong safety culture maintained by the entire team and the consistent commitment of the tradespeople and supervisors on site. The achievement was recognized and commended by both the project team and the school district, reinforcing the shared focus on protecting workers while delivering the project safely and successfully.

As a public high school serving incoming freshmen in Lockport Township High School District 205, LTHS Central Campus plays a vital role not only as a place of learning, but as a safe and welcoming anchor for the broader community. Following the ceiling collapse in 2023, the incident had a profound impact on students, families, and staff. Restoring confidence in the building’s safety and stability became just as important as completing the physical repairs.

Through continued investment and collaboration, Lockport Township High School District 205 ensured the campus could operate safely and without incident, allowing students to return to a secure, supportive environment. The completed work reinforces the school’s role as a sustainable, reliable community resource – one that is structurally sound, prepared for future generations, and ready to support eager learners as they begin their high school experience.

To meet the growing needs of young learners, Valley View School District 365U expanded Oak View Elementary School with a new Early Childhood Center (ECC). The ECC connects directly into the existing elementary school, and features modern classrooms, specialized features, and interactive learning spaces.

The ECC has eight learning studios with SMART Boards, cubbies, and open layouts with roll-out cots, and shared breakout rooms. Safety measures include two secured vestibules, cameras, and fenced playgrounds. A community conference room with an operable partition, AV technology, and tables are available to be rented. Additional spaces include a nurse’s office, kitchens, flex space, puppet room, sensory room, multi-purpose room with a bike track, and laundry room. Interior features include sky-blue ceilings, animal-themed rooms, and immersive wallpaper. The courtyard playground also has roadway-style signage, allowing children to ride tricycles and engage in imaginative play. This project had over 36,000 work hours and zero lost-time incidents.

The Debbie Sykora Early Childhood Center, named in honor of a beloved educator, was made possible by a state grant aimed at enhancing early childhood education. This 27,000-square-foot, one-story addition to Oak View Elementary School was designed to meet the growing demand for early childhood services in Bolingbrook, while providing a holistic learning environment that emphasizes nutrition education, active play, and meaningful outdoor engagement.

The center integrates biophilic design, incorporating natural materials and abundant daylight to create a nurturing atmosphere. Exterior walls feature a composite stone rainscreen system that not only enhances the building’s aesthetic appeal but also contributes to its energy efficiency. Inside, large windows flood the classrooms with natural light, creating a healthy and engaging space for young learners.

The center’s design features eight learning studios, each with adjoining jack-and-jill bathrooms, and shared break-out and storage rooms. Writable surfaces on cabinet doors and walls allow students to engage with their environment by drawing, writing, and problem-solving, offering endless opportunities for creativity and learning. Corridors feature interactive sensory and tactile wall treatments that encourage hands-on exploration and sensory development. These features support the center’s goal of fostering an active, engaged, and curious learning community.

With a focus on student wellness, the center features ADA-compliant bathrooms, accessible play areas, and spaces designed to promote emotional and physical well-being. The interior’s soothing color palette of soft blues, greens, and natural tones further promotes a calm and focused atmosphere conducive to learning.

The center’s site development included two new playgrounds with a sensory playground and a gross motor playground, as well as a redeveloped play area for the elementary school, all designed to encourage active outdoor play. A detention pond was also added to the site to manage stormwater runoff, ensuring sustainable development. The parking lot was redesigned and expanded to streamline drop-offs and pick-ups, minimizing traffic disruptions while enhancing safety and accessibility for families and staff.

Designed to serve as a community hub, the center provides multipurpose spaces for local engagement and educational programs, strengthening the connection between the school and the broader Bolingbrook community.

The Debbie Sykora Early Childhood Center represents more than just a building. It is a legacy that honors the vision of a dedicated educator while also addressing the needs of the Bolingbrook community. Through its nature-inspired detailing and materials, biophilic design, and innovative educational features, the center provides a dynamic environment where children can grow, explore, and connect with the world around them. With its emphasis on wellness, inclusivity, and forward-thinking design, the center ensures that every child has the opportunity to thrive, marking the beginning of a lifelong learning journey.

One major challenge faced during this project was the timely delivery of special exterior sheathing, affecting the schedule and jeopardizing reaching our completion milestone. The exterior sheathing specified for the project was a two-in-one product that served as both exterior sheathing and insulation.

Due to the 2024 East Coast port strike, carriers diverted their loads to the West Coast causing them to be overwhelmed with deliveries. This led to major delays in sorting and processing shipping containers, impacting the manufacturer’s delivery of materials needed to assemble products in the United States. The strike caused a six-week delay to the critical path at the beginning of winter, while the team was working to enclose the building.

F.H. Paschen and our trade partners worked tirelessly to come up with a recovery plan to absorb the delay and get the schedule back on track. Through pull planning, we were able to shift activities and stack trades to keep the project moving during the exterior sheathing delivery. The recovery plan was successful, and we turned over the project on time, under budget, and with minimal overtime, despite the sheathing impact.

Another challenge was integrating the new building with Oak View’s existing cast-in-place concrete structure. The design team used complementary materials and a new paint scheme for the existing Oak View Elementary School to ensure a cohesive architectural identity between the new addition and the original school. The new building also shares resources with Oak View Elementary School, including staff, playgrounds, and community spaces, enhancing collaboration between the two schools.

This project had an excellent safety record with over 36,000-man hours worked and zero lost time and OSHA recordable incidents.

To achieve these numbers, F.H. Paschen implemented a robust training program, requiring all supervisors to be 30-hour OSHA certified, first aid certified, and AED trained. We require mandatory Job Hazard Analysis on all self-performed work and implemented a Construction Safety Phasing Plan. Safety stand down meetings were held throughout the project on a variety of topics, to reinforce the safety-first mentality.

The ECC was named in honor of Debbie Sykora, one of the District’s tenured board members and former teachers. F.H. Paschen had the pleasure of being invited to the dedication ceremony where various community members came out to show support for their longtime teacher/colleague. The community conference room at the ECC is intended to be used as a space for the local community and families of the attending children. By bringing the community together, the ECC strengthens Valley View School District 365U and provides a safe, nurturing environment for children as they grow and progress through their education. The expansion aims to serve up to 895 early childhood students this year, a 36% increase from last year.

The Oak View Elementary School ECC Addition was supported through public funding, including a state grant that provided the district with $10 million. A key aspect of the funding was to track diverse spend. F.H. Paschen exceed the 10% MBE goal and 5% WBE goal by achieving 30% combined. In addition, the District signed an agreement with local unions to ensure that 10% of trade work hours were allocated to apprentices. This commitment was reinforced and discussed at the time of bid.

Winnetka School District 36 embarked on the renovation and expansion of Crow Island School to address a mix of educational, functional, accessibility, and building‑system needs, while preserving and enhancing the historic, architectural significance of the school.

The Crow Island School in Winnetka, Illinois was designed and built in 1940 by a team of architects that included Larry Perkins (of Perkins, Wheeler & Will) and Eliel and Eero Saarinen. The first project of what would later become Perkins&Will, Larry Perkins rooted the design in the progressive educational principals that became a model for school design in the modern era. He achieved this after classroom observation and with the support of the school’s superintendent and education reformer, Carleton W. Washburne.

Bulley & Andrews along with architects Perkins&Will completed a multi-year expansion and renovation to Crow Island School, with the goal of delivering a building that respects the past and is seen as an extension of the existing school. This project proved that good design is timeless and though challenging, it is possible to respect a historic design, while meeting modern standards of construction.

The recently completed Crow Island School project comprises a renovation of, and addition onto, the existing historically significant elementary school. The project incorporates an addition of three classrooms and new gymnasium; conversion of the existing gym to multipurpose/cafeteria; renovation of the Library Resource Center (LRC); an updated secure vestibule and other security upgrades; infrastructure improvements, including air conditioning.

Crow Island Elementary School is a piece of living, breathing history. The classroom layout, considered such a monumental step forward in education at the time of construction, is still used as inspiration for today’s contemporary classrooms. The project’s addition grows from this history. New classroom spaces are equivalently proportioned, allowing for a primary instruction area and a separate work area with a toilet. The iconic wood paneled walls in the original 1940 building and 1954 addition were included in the 2025 addition, as well as the sleek and durable terrazzo tiled floors. Entrances to the new spaces mimic the 1954 addition of display cases at the classroom entries, with updated dimensions and clearances for accessibility. New interior doors were painted with the striking red, blue, yellow, and mint green that is prevalent throughout the existing school.

The new addition’s exterior similarly grows from the existing Crow Island façade. New brick matches the existing Chicago Common brick as closely as possible, as the new storefront and glazing assemblies match the color and profile of the existing. The proportions of the existing building have been maintained and extended. A brick-clad gymnasium acts as a focal point for the addition, drawing the eye while simultaneously grounding the addition within its natural landscape. The project is a reflection of the educational philosophy of Crow Island, and a true harmony of building, nature, and history.

The design team needed to find a suitable contemporary brick type that would appear harmonious with the existing Chicago Common brick. Historic Chicago Common brick is sized differently than today’s ASTM-tested brick, with 3 courses of Chicago Common measuring 8 1/2″ rather than the 8″ that would be 3 courses of modern brick. Chicago Common brick was extruded and cut horizontally, which leads it to have a very particular texture on its end faces, and the varying particulates in the clay give the bricks a distinctive non-homogeneous coloring. A great deal of energy and research went into finding a suitable contemporary brick that would match the color, texture, and general feel of the existing Chicago Common.

The windows throughout the building were replaced with steel windows in 2003. In designing the addition, the team explored duplicating those steel windows. However, the profile of the steel windows was difficult to replicate, and it became evident that the previously installed windows were not thermally broken. The steel windows were also prohibitively expensive. After many iterations with the design team, consultants, and the client, the team settled on an attractive combination of thermally broken storefront and aluminum windows, which give the same effect as the existing steel window walls but with better performance and at a fraction of the cost.

Efficiency of MEP and structural systems were key in the development of the addition. The existing classroom ceiling/roof elevations were to be replicated in the new addition – existing classroom ceiling heights are 9′-5 1/2″, existing top of steel height is 10′-7 3/4″. MEP and structural had to be extensively coordinated so they could fit within this 14″ sandwich of space. In bringing air conditioning to the existing classrooms, the team was able to find space for condensation lines within the existing classroom closets. Floor-mounted and ceiling-mounted unit vents were replaced with more efficient systems, and in some cases these mechanical elements were shifted to allow for a better experience within the classroom.

Given Crow Island’s significance as a historic architectural landmark, it was critical that construction work remained true to the building’s original form. One of the more challenging aspects of the project was brick matching. Replicating brick from the 1940s proved difficult, and multiple brick mockups were reviewed over several weeks before ultimately selecting the closest possible match.

Additionally, matching the iconic interior wood paneling presented a significant challenge. A key decision was whether to match the 1940 wing or the 1954 wing, as each features a subtle variation in paneling color. Multiple rounds of color matching were conducted, ultimately leading the design team to remove two wood panels to serve as control samples. The final result achieves a clean and thoughtful transition between the 1954 wing and the new addition.

The spline ceiling also proved to be a challenge, as not all classrooms received a new ceiling system that replicated the original design. In classrooms where the existing spline ceiling was retained, the panels had to be carefully removed and reinstalled after the new lighting controls were installed. However, once removed, the ceiling edges often crumbled due to the delicate and brittle nature of the original spline material. Compounding the issue, this specific spline type is no longer manufactured. Fortunately, the school had attic stock available—while not perfect, it was original to the building and close enough to maintain historical integrity.

In classrooms that received a new spline ceiling, additional challenges emerged. Although the new ceiling system was intended to appear seamless, the introduction of new devices combined with existing wall irregularities made achieving a truly seamless appearance difficult. The devices had a tendency to shift and twist in multiple directions, creating visual inconsistencies. To resolve this, the team established an acceptable tolerance between the ceiling tiles and devices and constructed a classroom mock-up to confirm the approach. The design team reviewed the mock-up on site, provided guidance, and that standard was then applied consistently across all classrooms.

Throughout the two-year project, which involved 68,193 tradesmen hours, we had zero accidents showcasing a commendable safety record with no lost workdays. There were 36 safety inspections conducted, and we achieved an average compliance rate of 96%. Additionally, B&A Safety implemented a mandatory site-specific safety orientation for all onsite workers, ensuring comprehensive safety measures were followed.

Since it was built in 1941, Crow Island School has been a pillar in the Winnetka community, representing commitment to honoring students through progressive education. The community will directly benefit from the upgraded facilities which are available to be rented by local groups and organizations outside of regular school hours. The new larger, updated spaces will greatly benefit community programming and local initiatives.

Internally, the new renovations support Crow Island’s community outreach and philanthropy. The school hosts a food drive for New Trier Township Food Pantry, a candy drive to raise money for Lurie Children’s Hospital, a book drive to benefit a variety of local charities, and a Sack Supper program where students assemble meals to help feed the homeless, and more.

The Village of Winnetka and Crow Island School are also partnering on a stormwater management project. Winnetka is often impacted by flooding, and this new project will help to hold and/or redirect stormwater after major storms. A stormwater collection tank was placed behind Crow Island School, and will help to alleviate flooding for local residents.