1st Place, Adaptive Reuse, Low-rise
Facilitating change within existing building stock is the most important thing we can do to limit embodied carbon production. Thanks to its Great Fire, Chicago is a city now built for change: The mostly masonry building stock is resilient and adaptable, like Chicago’s inhabitants. The story of Great Lakes Academy Charter School, a grassroots charter organization that revitalized an entire city block by converting a deconsecrated Catholic church into a school and community center, embodies Chicago’s spirit for imagination, ingenuity, and resourcefulness.
The St. Mary Magdalene Church was the pillar of its community in the early 20th century. Back then, the South Chicago neighborhood, 10 miles from downtown, was the center of the world’s steel- fabrication industry, and the workers were primarily Polish immigrants. This parish was the gathering space for their community.
But, like all American cities, Chicago changed dramatically during the 20th century. The steel industry relocated; the government implemented redlining policies, devaluing real estate on the south side; and Black families replaced the Polish community. The deconsecrated church lot sat vacant for decades.
Wheeler Kearns Architects installed a regulation-sized soccer field south of the Enrichment Center and state-of-the-art playground equipment along the narrow east edge of campus. 
A contemporary glass link welcomes visitors from the north and south entrances and connects the Enrichment Center to the east with the Academic Building to the west. 
Under the vaulted ceiling of the former church, students now exercise and compete in their new gymnasium. The north side houses the cafeteria, where staff members serve more than 600 healthy breakfasts and lunches each day. 
A climbing wall was installed in the new gymnasium. 
BEFORE: The deconsecrated church lot sat vacant for decades in South Chicago.
All it took was a singular vision to identify the potential of this city lot. Wheeler Kearns Architects’ vision was to create a charter school with a 21st-century learning model and revitalize this swath of Chicago that the city had intentionally disinvested from for decades. Moreover, the design team sought to accomplish its vision in a way that honored the historical community’s legacy while ensuring the new users believed this was built for them, by them and not simply a makeshift conversion of a leftover building.
GROWING THE VISION
Great Lakes Academy (GLA) opened its doors to the community in 2014 with two grade levels by renting an existing school building adjacent to the vacant church, then owned by the Catholic Archdiocese. GLA’s goal was to add a grade level every year until it was a K-8 school. Meeting this ambitious goal meant acquiring more space.
The design team and school considered many options for expansion, including building a new facility across the street. Ultimately, the team determined it made the most sense, financially and programmatically, to acquire the entire block from the Catholic Archdiocese and expand into the former church.
In 2021, this vision grew into a reality when GLA purchased the whole city block. In addition to the church building, which became GLA’s Enrichment Center, the acquisition included the 3-story brick building the school had been renting since 2014, now known as the Academic Building, and a third building—a decrepit rectory—which was demolished to make room for a soccer field and playground.
SEEING IT THROUGH
The Academic Building had been working well as a home for GLA’s classrooms and administrative spaces. The expansion phase retained those programs in the Academic Building but made room on the main level to incorporate a Maker’s Lab and Library as a new shared resource for the growing school. In Wheeler Kearns Architects’ vision, the Academic Building would remain the school’s educational core, and the expansion into the adjacent church would provide enrichment opportunities for young students to explore extracurricular activities.
In contrast to the Academic Building, the plans for the church completely transformed the building. The design team envisioned a dedicated place to breathe new life into the South Chicago community by providing the students, parents and neighbors access to arts programming, sports and nutrition. The architectural goal was to highlight the unique characteristics of the existing architecture while transforming it into a secular space.
Under the vaulted ceiling of the former church, students now exercise and compete on a regulation-sized basketball court and volleyball court in their new gymnasium. The former apse and raised altar now host a transverse climbing wall. When the gym is not in use, the elevated stage serves as a place for theatrical, music and dance performances. In the former sacristy, the retrofitted art room provides the school’s first dedicated space for visual arts. Lastly, the north half of the building, separated by a rolling curtain, houses the cafeteria, where staff members serve more than 600 healthy breakfasts and lunches each day, prepared in the newly fitted commercial kitchen.
Retrofitting a former church building into the Enrichment Center came with its fair share of challenges. For example, when the structural analysis indicated the existing two-way waffle slab floor structure was insufficient for the new program’s live-load requirements, Wheeler Kearns Architects employed a specialty contractor to design and install carbon-fiber strapping to the underside of the concrete beams to strengthen them. The carbon fiber met the live-load requirements while avoiding traditional reinforcement that would have prevented future build-out opportunities for the basement.
Another significant challenge involved designing an accessible route to the raised church floor. Because there was ample exterior space, it was easy to provide code-compliant ramps, leading visitors to the Enrichment Center from the exterior courtyard. However, providing an accessible route inside the building proved much more challenging because of space constraints. To solve this problem, the design team nestled an elevator in one of the church’s niches along the west façade. This design connects the ground level with the raised church level and its basement while not taking away from programmable spaces.
Once Wheeler Kearns Architects had a clear vision for the Academic Building and the Enrichment Center, the team knew the connection between these spaces and the exterior campus was pivotal for the project’s success. A contemporary glass link was added to mediate the solidity of the two flanking masonry buildings. This link welcomes visitors from the north and south entrances and connects the Enrichment Center to the east with the Academic Building to the west. The intervention is open and lightweight with high-performance floor-to-ceiling glass and thermally broken curtainwall framing systems that connect visually to the interior lobby and the exterior courtyard. With six skylights sprinkled throughout the ceiling, the space is a perfect entry, transition and multipurpose room for the school.
Finally, the facility could only be described as a campus by its exterior development. The neighborhood had few public parks and spaces for the community to gather. Wheeler Kearns Architects installed a regulation- sized soccer field south of the Enrichment Center and state-of-the-art playground equipment along the narrow east edge of campus. The team also designed a protected north courtyard as a welcoming entry and flexible space to support outdoor learning opportunities and encourage nature exploration. A combination of designed terraced seating and boulders from a nearby Midwestern quarry provide options for social and educational activities.
A BRIGHT NEW FUTURE
As a new beacon of education for the South Chicago community, this expansion project proves that a singular vision, coupled with perseverance and imagination, can bring about monumental change in a neighborhood striving to overcome decades of disinvestment. Nearly a decade ago, Great Lakes Academy and Wheeler Kearns Architects’ dedicated team committed to providing unprecedented learning spaces for the community. Like most significant accomplishments, it did not happen overnight. This project demonstrates that with enough conviction, anyone is capable of harnessing the embodied value of a building—no matter its age or former use—and giving it a bright new future to serve its community again.
PHOTOS: Kendall McCaugherty, Hall + Merrick + McCaugherty
— James Graham, AIA, Graham Baba Architects, Metamorphosis Awards judge
“Nice restoration of the existing volume. The repurpose was largely in plan with new open programs use. Climbing wall is cool!”
Retrofit Team
METAMORPHOSIS AWARD WINNER and ARCHITECT: Wheeler Kearns Architects
CONSTRUCTION MANAGER: Bulley & Andrews
CIVIL ENGINEER: Terra Engineering Ltd.
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: Kettelkamp & Kettelkamp Landscape Architecture
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Enspect Engineering Consultants
MEP/FP ENGINEER: IBC Engineering Services
Materials
GREEN ROOF: LiveRoof LLC
SKYLIGHTS: Velux
DIRECT/INDIRECT FIXTURES, CHURCH: Spectrum Lighting Inc.
GYM FLOORING: Gerflor Resilient Flooring
LOBBY FLOORING: Nora by Interface
LOBBY GLAZING, NEW WINDOWS IN CHURCH: Kawneer
SPORTS FIELD: FieldTurf
KITCHEN EQUIPMENT: Boelter