project profile

Size: 85,000 Square Feet
Project Cost: $45 million
Completion Date: 2009

Project Scope:
Henry Ford Academy : Power House High / DRW College Prep High

What was once a power plant built to provide electricity and heat for the massive Sears, Roebuck & Company headquarters, today operates as two Chicago charter schools, the Henry Ford Academy: Power House High and Noble’s DRW College Prep.

A design that showcases rather than obliterates the building’s history includes skylights and windows that provide ample amounts of daylight, while a former railroad embankment was converted into green space for students, with 84 vertical wells ground source heating and cooling system buried below it. The original smokestack that rises above the facility will be preserved, and a wind turbine will be incorporated into it.

The energy efficient remodeling was awarded LEED Platinum certification by the US Green Building Council, as well as the Preservation Project of the Year award from Landmarks Illinois and the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation.