Robert Crown Community Center and Library
Evanston, Illinois
In Collaboration with Woodhouse Tinucci Architects
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Twin-Pad Arena, Gymnasium, Track, Fitness, Multipurpose Rooms, Branch Library, Soccer Fields, Football Field, Tennis Courts, Playground
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2022 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Chicago: Design Excellence Award (Citation of Merit)
2021 Chicago Building Congress: Merit Award
2021 American Public Works Association (APWA): Suburban Branch Award
After a decade of analysis and program review, the City of Evanston, Illinois, 12-miles north of Chicago, elected to replace its fading 1975 ice rink and community centre. Our project delivered on the City’s vision for a complex that marries competitive programming with recreation and wellness, providing a new facility and completely transforming the surrounding Robert Crown Park, reorganizing, expanding, and integrating outdoor and indoor programming. A key quality of the building is that it feels and performs like a much bigger one, with spaces that have been designed to overlap: for instance, the outdoor courtyard-reading garden is accessible from the preschool, lobby, and public library, allowing their programs to spill to the outside. The project demonstrates how, through careful design, a large-scale facility with multivalent amenities can be sensitively introduced into a residential neighbourhood and become a vibrant focal point for a diverse community.
The 2-level ‘social condenser’ lobbies at the centre of the building offer areas for viewing primary activities. Clear views into all program spaces provides entutive wayfinding, and further supported by the application of ‘supergraphics’.
