Higher Education

Chicago, Illinois | 26,646 SF

Under TKB’s retainer contract with the University of Illinois Chicago, TKB provided architectural services for a flooring replacement in the corridors and connecting bridges of the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System’s multistory Outpatient Care Center, replacing a failed tile floor.  TKB was engaged to study a full range of flooring options with associated costs and implementation issues. Ultimately, terrazzo was chosen for the primary corridors and resilient flooring resembling the terrazzo was selected for secondary corridors to streamline the construction and reduce the cost. 

The project challenges were almost wholly logistic: the project corridors are the main streets for the clinics. A safe patient path and exit-way, including for wheelchairs and gurneys, had to be maintained whenever patients or staff were working in the building. To address the dust from grinding, tile demolition and terrazzo operations and their contaminating effect on air quality; TKB developed tight specifications for protection and containment.  

The project had to be completed at night and on Sundays during all clinic hours. Corridor widths needed to be maintained for safe exiting, and the entrances to each clinic suite needed to be accessible for clinic hours and after-hours cleaning. Vibration was a concern for certain research occurring in the building, narrowing the window of time available for work on certain floors. These logistics were reviewed together with the university and healthcare safety specialists, then specified in detail, and finally refined with the selected contractor.

New millwork reception desks were developed for waiting areas. Optimal placement at corridor junctions was considered to ensure oversight of the adjacent corridors. 

TKB successfully budgeted this project after carefully considering schedule extensions for multiple phases and the associated protection.  Bids came in under the budgeted sum, allowing the project to move forward. 

Chicago, Illinois | >100,000 SF

TKB’s design concept for a new College of Business (COB) at the University of Illinois in Chicago includes classrooms, conference center, academic offices, and support functions for a prominent new site and was intended to immediately raise the profile of the College and fundraise for the new building construction. The project goal was to ascertain the COB programmatic needs, study multiple site locations so the university could agree upon an appropriate location and design a 100,000 SF building as an exciting new home for the College.  Multiple sites were examined in the context of logistics and master plan goals to assist the University in its site decision.

The resulting building design is modern and sculptural, following UIC standards for classrooms and developing new standards for COB faculty and departmental office needs.  The building form was driven by the need for both high-ceilinged classroom spaces and maximum perimeter area to provide daylight for faculty and administrative offices.  The solution, adapted to each site, was a tall base for classrooms and lobby, and an open atrium wrapped in office space on upper stories.  The highest floor was developed for the dean’s suite with an accessible green roof and views of the Chicago Loop.  The College of Business anticipates that the roof-deck views of the city and campus will be a popular recruiting tool.