GYH developed a planning scheme for The John Marshall Law School, now UIC Law, to relocate the school’s main entrance from Plymouth Court, a narrow isolated street, to State Street, one of Chicago’s prominent thoroughfares. The school’s Student Commons was moved from the second floor to the ground floor replacing a vacated retail space to create a vibrant university presence at street level.
The design provides an open environment with strong visual connections to the outside, while implementing secure access to the building’s interior spaces.
A new grand staircase promotes pedestrian access to the lower level and 2nd floor spaces, relieving vertical circulation congestion in other areas of the building.
This project has received LEED CI Silver Certification and was honored with a Chicago Vision Award from the Urban Land Institute.
Photos by Ballogg Photography.
