The New Kennedy-King College

The new 40-acre Kennedy-King College campus, designed by Kennedy King Architects, LLC, a partnership of Johnson & Lee, Ltd. and VOA Associates Incorporated, provides an element often lacking in urban colleges: a language of buildings with a dignity that reflects the seriousness of purpose inherent in the institution. In detail the spaces are comfortable and the flow of activity lear and well considered. Athletic facilities, an academic building and a library framing a tree-lined quadrangle bring a uniquely collegiate atmosphere to the heart of Englewood. Other state-of-the-art facilities –including a new culinary school, theater,TV and radio studios, and laboratories – will become an academic model for institutions across the city and beyond. The masonry buildings, acres of green space and abundant trees are an asset to the College and all who use it. The campus represents a stunning reprisal of the area on 63rd and Halsted, which at one time was a main commercial artery. Today, it brings to the Englewood community a bookstore, graphic services and day care center that are open to the general public, as well as the elegant, student-run Sikia Restaurant, the first full-service restaurant in Englewood in decades. The project was community-oriented from its inception. The campus planning process included community members at every step, and construction involved neighborhood and minority workers. Construction also employed a range of sustainable materials and systems, including a green roof covering 70,000 square feet of roof space. For introducing collegiate architecture to Englewood while meeting the needs of students, faculty and community alike,the new Kennedy-King College and Johnson & Lee, Ltd. and VOA Associates Incorporated are the winners of the 2009 Third Place Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design.