In 2014, Advocate Health launched a bold initiative to transform outpatient care across the greater Chicago area, committing to design and construct 50 new centers in 10 years. Through its Integrated Lean Project Delivery team—uniting The Boldt Company, HDR, IMEG, and key trade partners—the system advanced a unified approach built on shared learning, standardization, and Lean Six Sigma principles. This collaborative foundation set the stage for the Advocate Aurora Health Chicago Webster Ambulatory Outpatient and Surgery Center, a 59,000 square foot, two story Level 2 interior buildout that brings primary, specialty, and surgical services together in one coordinated urban setting. Delivered in two phases under an IPD model, the project demanded inventive solutions to fit robust clinical infrastructure within a tight structure shared with an active bank below and a movie theater above. BIM driven coordination, prefabricated exam and staff PODs, and Lean planning turned structural constraints—including sloped decks, tight ceiling spaces, and fire rated shafts—into opportunities for efficiency and consistency. Off site fabrication paired with streamlined on site installation ensured schedule reliability, minimized congestion, and supported a strong safety record. Ultimately, Chicago Webster expands access to high quality outpatient care while reinforcing Advocate Health’s commitment to equitable trade participation and community-focused delivery.

Design creativity at Chicago Webster was driven by the need to place highly technical healthcare spaces into a complex, existing urban structure. The building’s sloped overhead deck, irregular geometry, and limited ceiling height required the design team to rethink how mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, and structural systems could coexist in a compact space. Through early collaboration under an IPD agreement, architects, engineers, and trade partners used BIM and laser scanning to model existing conditions and design systems that could successfully navigate the constraints without sacrificing clinical performance.

The use of prefabricated exam and staff room PODs was integrated into the design from the beginning. These units were fully planned around standardized wall assemblies, in-wall utilities, and clinical workflows, allowing the team to create repeatable, high-quality patient spaces that could be installed quickly and precisely. Imaging, operating rooms, and recovery areas were designed with strict attention to shielding, vibration control, and infection prevention while still fitting within the tight building envelope. The result is a facility that feels open, modern, and efficient, even though it was built inside one of the most challenging structures in the Advocate Outpatient Collaborative’s portfolio.

The Chicago Webster project was defined by layered complexity. The facility was built within a mixed-use building that shared fire protection, structural systems, and utilities with an active bank and movie theater. This required all life safety systems to remain operational while new systems were installed and tied in through carefully planned shutdowns and inspections. Noise restrictions from the theater and limited window access added further constraints.

A major technical challenge was the interstitial space between the first and second floors, left behind from a previous renovation. This void created structural, fire rating, and MEP routing challenges that required close coordination with the core and shell contractor and the engineering team. Sloped decks and irregular overhead geometry also made traditional MEP runs impossible. Through BIM-driven coordination, prefabrication, and constructability reviews, systems were custom-fit to the building without costly rework.

Quality was ensured through off-site fabrication of 44 PODs representing 66 rooms, detailed shop drawings, and Lean planning tools, such as Touchplan, Last Planner, and Construction Process Analysis. These methods allowed the team to maintain precision, protect the schedule, and deliver healthcare-grade construction in an extremely constrained environment.

Safety was a critical focus given the tight work area, overhead constraints, and active neighboring businesses. Prefabrication significantly reduced trade stacking, overhead work, and material handling on-site by shifting large portions of the work into controlled shop environments. This lowered risk while improving quality and productivity, resulting in zero recordable injuries on this project.

Detailed planning was required for every fire protection tie-in, shutdown, and inspection to ensure that the bank and theater always remained protected. Lean planning, daily coordination, and strong field leadership allowed crews to work safely within narrow access paths and restricted work windows.

These efforts resulted in strong safety performance across both phases of the project, despite challenging conditions.

The Chicago Webster facility delivers significant community benefit by bringing a full range of outpatient and surgical services into a dense Chicago neighborhood. Patients now have access to primary care, specialty care, imaging, therapy, and advanced surgical services in one convenient location, reducing travel time and improving continuity of care.

The project also reflects the commitment of Advocate Health and Boldt to inclusive delivery with a combined diversity spend of thirty percent. Through IPD collaboration and trade engagement, the project created meaningful opportunities for a diverse group of partners to participate in complex healthcare construction. By combining equitable participation with long-term investment in community-based healthcare, Chicago Webster strengthens local and economic opportunity and access to high-quality medical services.

The Aspire Center is a powerful example of design creativity grounded in community purpose. Transforming a long-shuttered historic school into a modern workforce and community hub, the project pairs preservation with a bold glass addition that introduces transparency, daylight, and openness. The design carefully balances old and new, honoring the building’s civic legacy while creating welcoming, flexible spaces that invite connection and opportunity.

The project presented significant challenges and construction complexity. Adaptive reuse required careful structural upgrades, envelope restoration, and the seamless integration of new systems within an aging building. Phasing construction while preserving historic fabric, coordinating multiple nonprofit and institutional tenants, and delivering a high-performing facility on a constrained urban site demanded close collaboration and precision. Throughout construction, safety was a top priority. The general contractor completed 303 on-site safety orientations, reinforcing a culture of awareness and accountability. At peak construction in October 2024, the site supported approximately 70 workers, many of them skilled carpenters, contributing to a total of 86,346 man-hours worked. Throughout construction, only two recordable incidents occurred, reflecting a strong safety record and consistent adherence to best practices.

Located in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, the Aspire Center delivers lasting community impact. Once a symbol of disinvestment, the building now anchors reinvestment along a key corridor, housing workforce training, financial services, legal support, and community organizations under one roof. Inclusive design decisions, such as an open, light-filled lobby, activated green space, and a welcoming entry sequence, were shaped directly by community input. Aspire stands as a shared civic asset, advancing economic mobility, dignity, and opportunity while reinforcing Austin’s culture of resilience and pride.

Design creativity for the Aspire Center was rooted in listening first and designing second. From the outset, the creative process was guided by the Austin community’s Quality of Life Plan, ensuring that the project’s vision emerged from resident priorities rather than a preconceived architectural agenda. This approach challenged the design team to translate deeply human goals like access, dignity, safety, and opportunity, into physical form.
The central creative move was the adaptive reuse of a historic, shuttered school paired with a contemporary glass addition. This juxtaposition required careful design balance: preserving the building’s civic presence and cultural memory while introducing transparency, light, and flexibility that signal renewal. The new atrium acts as the project’s heart, visually connecting programs, flooding the interior with daylight, and serving as a welcoming threshold between the neighborhood and the services inside.

Design complexity stemmed from working within an existing structure while integrating modern systems, accessibility upgrades, and multiple tenant needs. Interior layouts were carefully choreographed to encourage collaboration without compromising privacy or security. Even subtle choices, such as, offsetting the reception desk from the main entry, were intentional. They reinforce openness without creating barriers. Together, these design strategies resulted in an environment that is both architecturally expressive and functionally empowering, demonstrating how creativity can elevate community-driven architecture.

The Aspire Center required a disciplined, collaborative construction process to ensure the highest level of quality while navigating the challenges inherent in adaptive reuse. From the outset, the team employed a rigorous preconstruction and investigative approach, including selective demolition, structural analysis, and detailed coordination drawings, to fully understand existing conditions within the long-vacant historic school. This early diligence allowed the project team to anticipate risks, protect historic elements, and make informed decisions throughout construction.

One of the primary challenges was integrating a new multi-story glass atrium into the existing masonry structure. This intervention demanded precise sequencing, structural reinforcement, and close coordination among trades to seamlessly connect old and new construction. Upgrading the building to meet current life-safety, accessibility, and energy-performance standards, while accommodating multiple tenants with diverse programmatic needs, added significant complexity. Construction was further challenged by the need to maintain quality craftsmanship across both restored and newly constructed elements.

Quality assurance was achieved through continuous on-site coordination, regular inspections, mockups, and strong communication between the owner, contractor, and design team. The result is a carefully executed project that balances technical complexity with durability and performance, delivering a well-crafted, resilient facility that will serve the Austin community for generations.

• 303 safety orientations completed on site
• 70 workers on site at project peak (October 2024, interestingly. Lots of carpenters!)
• 86,346 total man-hours worked
• 2 recordable incidents during construction

The Aspire Center has had a transformative impact on Chicago’s Austin community by converting a long-abandoned school into a vibrant, inclusive civic hub that directly supports economic mobility and neighborhood stability. Once a visible symbol of disinvestment, the building now serves as a shared resource where residents can access workforce training, financial services, legal support, and community programming in one welcoming location.

Inclusion was foundational to the project’s vision and execution. Guided by the Austin Quality of Life Plan, the project prioritized resident-defined needs and outcomes from the earliest stages. The design and development team partnered closely with Austin Coming Together and the Westside Health Authority, honoring their leadership and local expertise. Community input shaped both programming and architectural decisions, ensuring the building feels accessible, safe, and dignified for all users.

Architectural features reinforce this commitment to inclusion. A transparent, light-filled lobby, an off-axis reception desk that avoids creating barriers, universally accessible paths of travel, and activated outdoor green space all contribute to a sense of welcome and belonging. By reducing physical and psychological barriers to essential services, the Aspire Center strengthens trust, fosters connection, and reinforces community pride. The project stands as a model for equitable development, demonstrating how thoughtful design, authentic partnership, and inclusive process can create lasting social and economic impact.

The Aspire Center has had a measurable and meaningful impact on quality of life in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, an area that has long faced economic disinvestment and limited access to coordinated services. Since opening, the project has quickly become a hub for inclusion, connection, and opportunity, demonstrating how place-based investment can translate into real outcomes for residents.

In its first three months of operation, the Hub at Aspire, powered by Austin Coming Together, doubled the number of case management intakes year-over-year and connected more than 80 individuals to critical services across Austin. The building has also strengthened the neighborhood’s service ecosystem, hosting over 100 in-person partner meetings and significantly expanding collaboration among workforce, health, and social service providers.

The Aspire Center has accelerated access to workforce and education pathways. JARC experienced a 60% increase in weekly information session attendance following the ACWI grand opening, and since relocating to Aspire, the Jane Addams Resource Corporation has seen higher participation than ever before. New programs launched within the building further reflect its inclusive impact: Austin Coming Together and ScaleLIT introduced digital literacy courses serving two cohorts in 2025, while JARC and the Westside Health Authority established a forklift training program expected to serve three cohorts, 30 individuals, in the same year.

Beyond services, Aspire has become a place of community life. Events such as 3-on-3 basketball tournaments at PopFit and emergency food distribution pop-ups, serving over 1,550 households in partnership with the Greater Chicago Food Depository, activate the site and meet immediate needs. By December 2025, ACWI will have hosted multiple large-scale community events and convened civic leaders, reinforcing Aspire’s role as a neighborhood anchor.

Together, these outcomes demonstrate how the Aspire Center improves quality of life by expanding access, strengthening networks, and creating inclusive opportunities that support economic stability and community well-being.

The Aspire Center is a strong candidate for the CBC Equity Champion Award because equity was not an outcome of the project, it was its foundation. From vision through delivery, the project demonstrates how intentional partnership, inclusive design, and measurable outcomes can advance opportunity in an economically disadvantaged community.

Located in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, the Aspire Center was shaped directly by the Austin Quality of Life Plan, a resident-led framework defining priorities for economic mobility, access to services, and neighborhood stability. Rather than imposing an external agenda, the project team partnered with Austin Coming Together and the Westside Health Authority as true community experts, allowing local leadership to guide decisions at every stage. This commitment ensured the project responded to real needs while building trust that had been earned over time.

Inclusion and accessibility are embedded throughout the design. A transparent, light-filled lobby, an off-axis reception desk that avoids creating barriers, universally accessible paths, and activated public green space were all informed by community input to balance welcome, dignity, and safety. The building brings workforce training, financial services, legal support, and nonprofit organizations together under one roof, reducing physical and psychological barriers for residents who historically faced fragmented or inaccessible systems.

The impact is measurable. Within months of opening, the Aspire Center doubled case management intakes, connected dozens of residents to services, expanded workforce training participation, launched new digital literacy and skills programs, and hosted food distribution and community events serving thousands of households. These outcomes reflect not just a building, but a platform for equity in action.

Aspire demonstrates exceptional commitment to inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility, proving that when communities lead and design teams listen, architecture can be a catalyst for lasting, equitable change.

The Duly Health and Care Schaumburg Multi-Specialty Clinic is the adaptive reuse of an existing commercial building into a modern, patient-centered outpatient healthcare facility that supports integrated, team-based care. The design transforms the existing structure into a welcoming, intuitive environment defined by natural light, clear wayfinding, and flexible clinic planning that allows multiple specialties to function efficiently while remaining adaptable over time. Thoughtful material selections and scaled waiting and care spaces create a calm, dignified experience for patients and staff alike.

The project required complex coordination to convert a non-clinical building into a high-performing medical facility, including significant structural, mechanical, electrical, and life-safety upgrades. Medical imaging, enhanced building systems, and specialty clinical infrastructure were carefully integrated within the existing shell, maximizing reuse while meeting stringent healthcare codes and performance requirements.

Safety was prioritized throughout construction through proactive planning, clear site controls, and consistent communication among the owner, design team, and contractor, resulting in a strong safety record.

By reinvesting in an existing building, the project reduced environmental impact while expanding access to comprehensive healthcare services. The clinic’s inclusive, accessible design serves patients of all ages and abilities and strengthens community health by bringing coordinated care closer to where people live and work.

The creative design process for the Duly Health and Care Schaumburg Multi-Specialty Clinic was rooted in a deep understanding of both the existing building and Duly’s evolving model of integrated outpatient care. Early in the process, the design team conducted a comprehensive assessment of the existing facility’s structure, systems, and spatial constraints to determine where adaptation, reinforcement, and strategic interventions would be most effective. Rather than forcing a new clinical model into an incompatible shell, the design embraced the building’s inherent characteristics and used them as drivers for innovation.

Close collaboration with Duly’s clinical and operational leadership shaped a flexible planning framework that supports multiple specialties while remaining adaptable to future changes in care delivery. Standardized exam rooms and modular clinic zones were organized around shared support spaces to improve efficiency, reduce staff travel, and create a clear, intuitive experience for patients. This planning approach required careful alignment of clinical adjacencies with building infrastructure, balancing efficiency with patient privacy and comfort.

One of the project’s primary challenges was integrating complex medical and imaging infrastructure into an existing commercial building that was not originally designed for healthcare use. Structural limitations, ceiling heights, and existing mechanical systems required highly coordinated design solutions to accommodate medical gases, imaging equipment, enhanced power and HVAC capacity, and stringent life-safety requirements. These constraints drove close collaboration between architecture, engineering, and construction teams, resulting in precise coordination that preserved spatial quality while meeting demanding technical criteria.

Design decisions were further refined to enhance the patient and staff experience. Natural light was maximized where possible, circulation paths were simplified to improve wayfinding, and material palettes were selected to create a calm, welcoming environment that supports healing without feeling institutional. Lighting, finishes, and transitions between public and clinical spaces were carefully composed to reinforce dignity, clarity, and comfort.
Through a deliberate and collaborative design process, the project transformed a constrained existing building into a high-performing, future-ready healthcare environment. The complexity of the adaptive reuse and the challenges of integrating advanced clinical systems ultimately strengthened the project, resulting in a facility that achieves both architectural clarity and operational excellence.

– Higher ceilings offer ample MEP space for infrastructure but also require creativity to reduce sound transmission in the finished space. This involved adding hard lid ceilings to reduce the number of walls that extended to the deck.
– Structural reinforcement of the existing building for all new RTUs and the new Linac
– Pouring of the linac inside an existing building, including engineered supports/scaffolding and limited overhead space.
– The addition of new MEP services to the building, including a new water and electrical service.
– An expedited construction schedule to meet our client turnover date.
– To ensure quality standards, we used a rolling completion punchlist method to create ongoing punchlists throughout the project. Many of the rooms were also standardized to optimize fabrication and quality standards. We created mockups and first-installation approvals for Architect and Owner approval prior to the fabrication of key components.

There were no major safety issues during the construction phase of the project.

The Duly Health and Care Schaumburg Multi-Specialty Clinic has a meaningful and lasting impact on the community by expanding access to comprehensive, coordinated outpatient healthcare within a single, conveniently located facility. By consolidating multiple specialties under one roof, the project improves continuity of care, reduces travel and wait times for patients, and supports a more efficient and patient-centered healthcare experience for individuals and families in the Schaumburg area.

The adaptive reuse of an existing building represents a responsible investment in the community, extending the life of an underutilized asset while minimizing environmental impact and construction waste. Rather than pursuing new development, the project reinforces sustainable growth and neighborhood reinvestment, contributing to the long-term vitality of the surrounding area.

Inclusion was a guiding principle throughout the project’s design and delivery. The clinic features accessible, easy-to-navigate layouts that support patients of all ages and abilities, including clear way-finding, barrier-free circulation, and thoughtfully designed waiting and care spaces. Interior environments were designed to be welcoming, dignified, and calming, supporting diverse patient needs and fostering comfort and trust.

By focusing on accessibility, sustainability, and improved healthcare access, the project strengthens community health outcomes and reflects Duly Health and Care’s commitment to inclusive, high-quality care that serves the broader needs of the community.