Overview
The University of Chicago will construct a new world-class engineering and science building on our Hyde Park campus that will serve as UChicago’s main center for engineering research and teaching.
The new engineering and science building, to be located at the southwest corner of Ellis Avenue and 56th Street adjacent to the William Eckhardt Research Center on the site currently occupied by the Accelerator Building and HEP, will principally house the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) and, importantly, a brand-new collaborative space for growing the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE) in close partnership with quantum researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The building will be equipped with laboratory and other research space needed for transformative engineering and science research and breakthroughs and will extend UChicago’s capabilities to serve as a training ground for next-generation engineering and science.
The CQE Project is receiving $175M total in state grants awarded to the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for the construction of the CQE facility aimed at accelerating quantum information science and technology in Illinois. Housing CQE in the new building will help support city, region, state-wide, and potentially global partnerships, truly establishing Chicago and Illinois as a hub for cutting-edge quantum research and its commercialization.
The building is currently in the early programming stage, to be followed by design phases. Construction is expected to begin at the site in 2024 and be completed in 2028. HDR Architecture and Allison Grace Williams will design the building with a team renowned for their work in designing high-performance spaces for elevated scientific discovery and human experience.
Great care will be taken during construction to coordinate across research and neighboring facilities and other construction projects. The High Bay Research Facility was completed in 2022 for the relocation of programs in HEP and the Accelerator Building.
For questions, please contact Matthew Curtin, Capital Projects Delivery/Facilities Services, at mcurtin@uchicago.edu.
Header Photo: Scientists from Argonne and the University of Chicago entangled photons across a 52-mile network, an important step in developing a national quantum internet.
Illustration by Peter Allen
Project Team
HDR
The collaborative partnership of HDR, a design firm consistently ranked #1 in science and technology, and Allison Grace Williams, renowned award-winning architect and founder of design consultancy AGWms studio, provides a powerhouse design team to support the vision for a new research facility. Their combined expertise in design will materialize in a building that enables robust and transformative engineering and science research to manifest.
HDR’s design team, led by Global Design Director Brian Kowalchuk, FAIA, LEED AP, supports a staff of more than 1,200 architects on five continents, representing more than 35 years of architectural experience on large-scale, technologically complex projects. Kowalchuk has successfully delivered transformational research buildings around the world and embraces the idea that design begins and ends with the people who inhabit the spaces he designs.
Allison Grace Williams, FAIA, is the project’s concept design consultant. Williams’ innovative nature and design leadership have resulted in award-winning projects representing a hierarchy of relevant issues of our time.
The project team will include the leadership experience of Vice President and Lead Architectural Management Principal Warren J. Hendrickson, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, and Associate Vice President and Managing Principal, Grace Kuklinski Rappe, AIA, LEED AP. Working together, they will oversee the efforts of the Chicago studio and engage Vice President and Principal Planner, Jack Paul, RA, LEED AP, to support the design team in delivering the vision of a world-class engineering and science building.
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Mortenson, Bowa Construction, and Ardmore Roderick
Built upon a culture of trust and collaboration, Mortenson engaged partners Bowa Construction and Ardmore Roderick to form a team that brings unmatched national expertise in complex research and laboratory facilities as well as deep roots in the Hyde Park community.
Delivering this complex facility with a focus on flexibility, sustainability, and adaptability requires a builder that is creative, collaborative, and has mastery over innovative technologies. As a top twenty, national builder, Mortenson’s expertise in bringing the most forward-thinking designs to reality is of the highest caliber.
With a focus on making a lasting economic impact for future generations, Mortenson in conjunction with the University, HDR, Bowa Construction, and Ardmore Roderick, will purposefully engage the surrounding community throughout the life of the project to create long-term career pathways for local residents.
Mortenson, Bowa Construction, and Ardmore Roderick value the profound impact this facility will have on the future of Molecular Engineering and Quantum Computing, and are committed to creating a space for the world’s best minds to join together in advancing this mission.
Photos
Allison Grace Williams, FAIA and Brian Kowalchuk, FAIA, LEED AP