West Pullman School Senior Housing

This project was selected as a Merit winner in the 2021 Residential Architect Design Awards, Renovation / Adaptive Reuse category.

"This transformed landmark building contains beautiful airy spaces and so many nods to its previous life.” —Ingrid Spencer

Occupying nearly an entire block in a Chicago South Side neighborhood, the West Pullman School Senior Housing complex continues its more than centurylong legacy as a community resource. Local firm UrbanWorks preserved, renovated, and adapted a former elementary school—built and expanded in 1894, 1900, and 1923—into 60 units of affordable senior housing. The playful renovation straddles both typologies—chalkboards find a second life as headboards, classroom built-ins become personal storage, and the auditorium, gym, and wide corridors once again become social hubs. By preserving the building history and architectural details—including both Romanesque Revival and Classical Revival elements—the project is poetic in its use of history and past connections to reinforce cognitive skills for residents. This ethos carries through to the exterior restoration, which complies with the standards to sustain the buildings’ Chicago Landmark status.

PROJECT CREDITS:
Project: West Pullman School Senior Housing, Chicago
Client: Celadon Holdings (Client), WP School Redevelopment Limited Partnership (Owner), A Safe Haven Foundation
Architects: UrbanWorks, Chicago. Robert Natke, AIA (principal-in-charge), Patricia Saldaña Natke, FAIA (principal), Maria Pellot, AIA (design director), Jose Esquinca, Assoc. AIA (associate design director), Michael Kinsella, AIA (project manager, construction administration), Erick Roldan, AIA (project architect), Lance Sy, Assoc. AIA (designer)
Landscape Architect: Hey and Associates, Inc.
Interior Designer: UrbanWorks
Structural Engineer: C.E. Anderson & Associates
M/E/P Engineer: Maestros Ventures
Civil Engineer: Hey and Associates, Inc.
Geotechnical Engineer: ECS Midwest
General Contractor: Brown and Momen
Historic Preservation: MacRostie Historic Advisors
Size: 110,000 square feet
Cost: $14.6 million

Materials and Sources:
Appliances: Frigidaire
Concrete: Ozinga
Flooring: Armstrong VCT
Glass: Oldcastle
Gypsum: USG
HVAC: Carrier
Insulation: Owens Corning
Lighting: Phillips
Masonry/Stone: AMX Mortar
Metal: Ibarra Group - Handrails
Millwork: Amber Leaf Cabinetry
Paints/Finishes: Promar
Plumbing/Water System: American Standard, Moen
Roofing: Firestone UltraPly TPO
Site/ Landscape Products: Christie Webber
Windows/Curtainwalls/Doors: LaForce doors and hardware