Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation
Location: Chicago, IL
Architect: Lamar Johnson Collaborative
Owner: Westside Health Authority
Rendering courtesy of Lamar Johnson Collaborative
Photos by HTA
The Aspire Center project occupies a city block in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood at the intersection of Madison St. and Central Ave. The project includes the adaptive reuse and conversion of a shuttered Chicago Public Elementary School into a training center with offices and meeting spaces. At the former backside of the school, the 3-story, 11,000 SF addition creates an entry beacon for the Center. The addition includes a grand stair, elevators and meeting spaces. The addition also provides access to a Level 2 roof deck over the existing mechanical rooms. The 65,000 SF early 20th century school building is lightly touched, to maintain its original grandeur. Project is scheduled to open in 2023. The addition relies on the existing building for lateral support, and is framed in structural steel. The existing school building construction is comprised of steel framed floors with clay tile arches and cinder concrete floor slabs, supported by multi wythe brick walls on concrete foundations. Modifications to the existing building include local floor live load upgrades, lintels for new openings and support frames for roof top units.