Keller Center, The University of Chicago, Harris School of Public Policy

Chicago, IL

The Keller Center is an environment purposely designed to facilitate dialogue, rigorous research and analysis, interdisciplinary investigation, and passionate problem-solving. The space allows for collaboration and includes an adjoining café, eight classrooms, clusters of quiet study rooms, an atrium wrapped with faculty offices and a rooftop executive education center. The lighting design was created to bring warmth into the human centric space, to be functional, economical, and to seamlessly integrate into the simple materials of a hard-working loft space with whitewashed concrete, fritted glass walls, and honed concrete floors. Inspired by the Harris School’s mission of positive social change, the renovation plan achieved LEED Platinum Certification having already achieved a 46% energy reduction over LEED baseline and Petal Certification in the Living Building Challenge framework.