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 IonQ Center for 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 UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago 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 spaces needed for transformative engineering and science research and breakthroughs. It 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 commercialization.
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.
______________________________________________________________________________
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.
Milestones
-
WCCUP Chiller
The anticipated IonQ Center for Engineering and Science building cooling load (AC, PCW, LTW) will be served by a connection to the campus central utility plant chilled water loop. This newly imposed design load will exceed the current available chilled water capacity. The WCCUP was designed with shell space available to add a future chiller to increase capacity when needed. Before incurring demand to condition spaces in the new IonQ Center for Engineering and Science building (finish installations), one additional chiller is anticipated to be added to WCCUP. -
Accelerator Building Demolition
Decommissioning and demolition of the existing Accelerator (ACC) building for the construction site. -
High Energy Building Demolition
Decommissioning and demolition of the existing High Energy Physics (HEP) building for the construction site. -
Temporary Street Light Installation on Ellis Avenue along the construction site.
The City of Chicago is requiring temporary street lights to be installed on the east side of Ellis Avenue (from 56th Street to the south end of ACC) in preparation for the demolition of ACC and HEP. These street lights will remain in place through the construction of the IonQ Center for Engineering and Science.