An old machine shop was found, off the beaten path, up against the tracks.A gallery owner asked us to look at it.Messed up façade. Tired, listing trusses, rotting roof/drain-heads, cracked/heaved slab over slab.But the span, the height, the monitor light was right. Finding the rear courtyard sealed the deal.We said to ourselves, ?Don?t screw it up?

© Tom Rossiter

Architects: Wheeler Kearns Architects

Location: 2044 W Carroll Ave, Chicago, IL 60612, United States

General Contractor: Graycor Inc.

Structural Engineer: Enspect Engineering

Lighting Designer: Lux Populi

Area: 5000.0 ft2

Project Year: 2017

Photographs: Tom Rossiter

© Tom Rossiter
Text description provided by the architects. An old machine shop was found, off the beaten path, up against the tracks.
A gallery owner asked us to look at it.
Messed up façade. Tired, listing trusses, rotting roof/drain-heads, cracked/heaved slab over slab.
But the span, the height, the monitor light was right. Finding the rear courtyard sealed the deal.
We said to ourselves, ?Don?t screw it up?

© Tom Rossiter

The Sequence
One space to receive
One space to present/absorb/reflect
One space to meander/tinker/discover
One space, outdoors, to catch ones? breath

© Tom Rossiter

The Work
Shell:
Roof trusses were restored, reinforced and tensioned; purlins, structural decking replaced, sandblasted to expose the...