Honor Award

• Division: Institutional
• Location: Chicago, IL
• Architect: John Ronan Architects
• Client: Comer Science and Education Foundation
• General contractor: W.E. O'Neil Construction Co.
• Consultants: Arup (Structural); CCJM Engineers (MEP); Julie Thoma Wright

Overview

Another approach to a rain screen, this one's aesthetic is more playful in response to its use on a children's building—but it, too, plays a protective role. Because of fears of violence in the neighborhood, large windows were not ideal for security reasons. The slot windows, inset into the building cladding, deter intruders, but they also serve as counterpoint to the cladding, dark voids in the daytime but at night, animating the façade with light from the interior. Jurors called the use of an attractive rain screen as a security device "exquisite."