CHICAGO | Hyde Park Development

[Klippenstein]

From last week

[WestsideLA]

https://rtmec.com/portfolio/universi...ence-building/

[Randomguy34]

More renderings






https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rtm-e...57672192-6G0d/

[WestsideLA]

Good find. Thanks much!!

[ChiND]

Originally Posted by WestsideLA

https://rtmec.com/portfolio/universi...ence-building/

What’s the address for this building?

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by ChiND

What’s the address for this building?

It's replacing accelerator, so presumably something like 5620 S Ellis Ave.

(I work in 5640 S Ellis, so I'll probably have some nice updates on this once they finally knock down accelerator... They were supposed to a while ago).

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

It's replacing accelerator, so presumably something like 5620 S Ellis Ave.

(I work in 5640 S Ellis, so I'll probably have some nice updates on this once they finally knock down accelerator... They were supposed to a while ago).

That is the building being replaced, correct.

Fun story: The last A/E firm I worked at was partnered with Payette, as one of the finalists for the design of the NESB. I was not part of that design team/project, but was aware of the collaboration in the office and saw the development of the competition design over the course of 4-5 months. I have to say, it was far more compelling and unique a design than this is. U of C chose the safest and sadly, blandest design for what is planned as a major, literal corner of the University.

My old firm's design had 9 floors + two below grade. It was L-shaped, hugging the corner of 57th and Ellis Ave...but the really cool parts where 1.) the facade design and 2.) the negative spaces sculpted out of the building, which were spherical. The SW-facing inside area facing the Engineering quad almost appeared as if was sculpted out of a large sphere's negative space, with the canopy extending out into the quad and then curving up along the building facade to the top floor. That entire curved facade wall was composed of solar panels, to take advantage of that optimal angle for solar gain. There were also smaller curved "cut-outs", along the corner of 57th and Ellis, and further south along Ellis, which acted as multi-floor tall meeting areas, or student gathering spaces. I may have some renders somewhere, or I can sketch it from memory, if I remember to do so.

The biggest roadblock was the school's vice-provost, who is an....incredibly challenging person, and had their own ideas of what the building needed to be. For a relatively design-forward organization, I think U of C missed a big opportunity by not moving forward with that design, because it wasn't just unique, but also provided high functionality with lots of future flex space built-in, as well as unique overhead connections to the Eckhardt science building to the south.
Oh well.

[Randomguy34]

^ even this concept design looks much cooler than what we're getting for the final product


https://www.hdrinc.com/portfolio/uni...ience-building

[WestsideLA]

It appears to mostly be a continuation of the Eckhardt Research Center. Keeping the blue glass facade. It at least references its surroundings in that regard. And the castlelike tower thing seems to reference some of the Gothic towers on campus. I do like it better than the accelerator building, and it should be nice to have a gateway to North Science Quad through the building. But I'm not saying it's the most amazing building ever. Sort of like the cancer center. I suppose it's OK. Would be interesting to see the competing designs.

[Rally Monkey]

Good stuff. Unless I'm missing something, the design above looks quite a bit different from the earlier design we've saw, which included a plaza at the corner of Ellis and 56th:

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by Rally Monkey

Good stuff. Unless I'm missing something, the design above looks quite a bit different from the earlier design we've saw, which included a plaza at the corner of Ellis and 56th:

It is a different design, correct.

I'm pretty confident this is what transpired: the Vice-Provost, specifically the individual who oversees the budget for all capital, facilities and infrastructure, saw the preliminary DD budget estimate for the design in the image above, and shut it down, concerned about escalating construction material costs and borrowing costs (although, admittedly, not sure how private university capital projects funding works). As a knee-jerk reaction, the individual decided 'No way!' and asked the selected design team of HDR and Allison Williams to 'tone it down', which lead to the watered down design, that as WestsideLA mentioned, really looks like a continuation of the Eckhardt building to the south. And again, is it a bad design? Not at all. Is it boring, uninspiring, safe and a major missed opportunity? Yeah.

[dewbs]

Originally Posted by sentinel

It is a different design, correct.

I'm pretty confident this is what transpired: the Vice-Provost, specifically the individual who oversees the budget for all capital, facilities and infrastructure, saw the preliminary DD budget estimate for the design in the image above, and shut it down, concerned about escalating construction material costs and borrowing costs (although, admittedly, not sure how private university capital projects funding works). As a knee-jerk reaction, the individual decided 'No way!' and asked the selected design team of HDR and Allison Williams to 'tone it down', which lead to the watered down design, that as WestsideLA mentioned, really looks like a continuation of the Eckhardt building to the south. And again, is it a bad design? Not at all. Is it boring, uninspiring, safe and a major missed opportunity? Yeah.

The U of C has pretty serious budget issues. I've never really understood it, but they just seem to have a very poor culture in terms of management -- much worse than Northwestern, even though it's academically far stronger (though universities generally often have weird financial management -- Harvard in 2009 had massive problems that never should have occurred). The U of C is sort of in budget freakout mode these days, and it's not surprising to me that there would be some ham-handed clamping down.

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by dewbs

The U of C has pretty serious budget issues. I've never really understood it, but they just seem to have a very poor culture in terms of management -- much worse than Northwestern, even though it's academically far stronger (though universities generally often have weird financial management -- Harvard in 2009 had massive problems that never should have occurred). The U of C is sort of in budget freakout mode these days, and it's not surprising to me that there would be some ham-handed clamping down.

This is a good point...but it's also concerning because U of C completed their most recent fundraising campaign in 2018-19, having raised well above their $5 BILLION goal. And granted, endowments, revocable trusts, etc., are different than university budgets. But to your point, I have heard of recent budget issues that they've been dealing with, but didn't know it was potentially as problematic as what you've described. They have completed a LOT of new building projects, renovations, build-outs, improvements, just in the past 7-10 years, so perhaps that's where they'll start cutting back on

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by sentinel

This is a good point...but it's also concerning because U of C completed their most recent fundraising campaign in 2018-19, having raised well above their $5 BILLION goal. And granted, endowments, revocable trusts, etc., are different than university budgets. But to your point, I have heard of recent budget issues that they've been dealing with, but didn't know it was potentially as problematic as what you've described. They have completed a LOT of new building projects, renovations, build-outs, improvements, just in the past 7-10 years, so perhaps that's where they'll start cutting back on

They keep announcing new belt-tightening measures to try to cut down operating budgets (e.g. they announced no meals without visitors, requiring booking flights through university travel agency, etc., even though that is typically external money being used in our case, and the University actually makes money off of it due to overhead)... and are in the midst of a financial "modernization." I didn't go to the last budget town hall, but my understanding based on reading e-mails from the provost is basically that the University spent a bunch of money trying to build out new programs (mostly IME, I guess) and operated at a deficit to do that, and now wants to get back on track. While I imagine capital budgets are separate, I guess they might be worried about both cost and schedule overruns. Recent projects (e.g. the High Bay Research building) have certainly not been on schedule, but that was definitely pandemic-related to some extent.

But the capital budget and operating budget are separate.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by sentinel

That is the building being replaced, correct.

Fun story: The last A/E firm I worked at was partnered with Payette, as one of the finalists for the design of the NESB. I was not part of that design team/project, but was aware of the collaboration in the office and saw the development of the competition design over the course of 4-5 months. I have to say, it was far more compelling and unique a design than this is. U of C chose the safest and sadly, blandest design for what is planned as a major, literal corner of the University.

My old firm's design had 9 floors + two below grade. It was L-shaped, hugging the corner of 57th and Ellis Ave...but the really cool parts where 1.) the facade design and 2.) the negative spaces sculpted out of the building, which were spherical. The SW-facing inside area facing the Engineering quad almost appeared as if was sculpted out of a large sphere's negative space, with the canopy extending out into the quad and then curving up along the building facade to the top floor. That entire curved facade wall was composed of solar panels, to take advantage of that optimal angle for solar gain. There were also smaller curved "cut-outs", along the corner of 57th and Ellis, and further south along Ellis, which acted as multi-floor tall meeting areas, or student gathering spaces. I may have some renders somewhere, or I can sketch it from memory, if I remember to do so.

The biggest roadblock was the school's vice-provost, who is an....incredibly challenging person, and had their own ideas of what the building needed to be. For a relatively design-forward organization, I think U of C missed a big opportunity by not moving forward with that design, because it wasn't just unique, but also provided high functionality with lots of future flex space built-in, as well as unique overhead connections to the Eckhardt science building to the south.
Oh well.

Yes, the UChicago administration can be ... challenging.

That's unfortunate, 9 stories above ground here would be great (even though it would ruin the view from the Hubble Lounge even more, probably...) and probably help more with the space crunch in ERC...

[Rally Monkey]

I've had a chance now to digest these renderings, and my verdict is that they're fine. I think I was expecting a "game changer"--a unique standalone gateway structure that would re-define the north campus. But instead it looks like they're opting for a more modest extension of Eckhardt that will create a continuous facade along Ellis with an overhanging tower feature that evokes the highly successful David Rubinstein Forum in Campus South. I'm guessing the project was down-scoped due to costs, but I'd be surprised if that has anything to do with the University tightening its operating budget.

Fortunately, the one design element I was hoping to see is there: Today, access from Ellis to the North Science Quad is through a narrow path between Eckhard and Accelerator. The new building will have a generous opening to Ellis that appears to create clear sightlines from the quad to the iconic Nuclear Energy statue. And it looks like that section of the building will be just four stories high, which will make sure that critical stretch of Ellis isn't in shadows half for half the day, lying under a hulking mass.

All and all, I think this design does no harm. Definitely an improvement over Accelerator, obviously a huge new asset to the science and engineering programs, and a solid addition to the campus design. Could be worse.

[ardecila]

Are they tearing down High Energy too? That's a shame, it's a really elegant building. I love the way it, well, seems to defy gravity.

I assume Michelson is safe, since it's practically brand new. And what happens to TAAC - I thought the trailers were supposed to be removed already?

[Rally Monkey]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Are they tearing down High Energy too? That's a shame, it's a really elegant building. I love the way it, well, seems to defy gravity.

I assume Michelson is safe, since it's practically brand new. And what happens to TAAC - I thought the trailers were supposed to be removed already?

Sorry to report that High Energy is a goner, along with Accelerator. But Michelson abides!

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Are they tearing down High Energy too? That's a shame, it's a really elegant building. I love the way it, well, seems to defy gravity.

I assume Michelson is safe, since it's practically brand new. And what happens to TAAC - I thought the trailers were supposed to be removed already?

Michelson was built on top of LASR (which I briefly had an office in before moving to Eckhardt once it was completed in September 2015) and is of course safe, being only a few years old.

[Rally Monkey]

Originally Posted by WestsideLA

https://rtmec.com/portfolio/universi...ence-building/

I've been studying this rendering more closely, and it looks like the plan includes some upgrades to the area east of Ellis fronting the Nuclear Energy statue. The rendering shows that the sidewalk in front of the statue and plinth has been widened south to the Mansueto Library and is replaced with smaller pavers (the same kind, I think, that would be used across the way in the new building's entrance walkway into the North Science Quad). This maybe is imagined as the terminus of a mid-block pedestrian corridor that would stretch to Maryland Ave. If that's the idea, I approve!