The Chicago Innovation Exchange is the University of Chicago’s designated location for faculty and students to share entrepreneurial ideas. The facility caters to multi-disciplinary fields including the Institute for Molecular Engineering and Argonne National Laboratory. Located in the heart of Chicago’s Hyde Park, the adaptive reuse project included a gut rehab and interior build-out, utilizing original brick walls in the interior space to create a vintage modern industrial design. Group collaboration areas feature mezzanine structural steel and an industrial lighting grid. The adaptable working space accommodates up to 150 students in co-op settings and dedicated office space for the management team.

The second phase of the U of C project was the Doerr Building. An example of the innovative possibilities that come from adapting and re-utilizing space, the gut rehab and interior build-out included a full masonry facade restoration, an ornate terra-cotta cornice and bold, modern canopy. A digital fabrication lab (Fab Lab) was designed for rapid prototyping, and space was designated for energy and water research.