Ford Calumet Environmental Center

The district wanted the building to convey a sense of openness while also retaining the ability to be secured when park staff were not on site. The design team responded by creating 10-foot-square floor-to-ceiling windows on all four sides that allow natural light deep into the space. Large movable hydraulic hangar doors made of steel hinge downwards to fit flush with the exterior wall, covering windows to secure the facility when it is closed. The doors’ perforated metal screens preserve visibility to the interior.

Given the marsh’s importance to migrating birds, it was essential that the design be bird friendly. The hangar doors form a canopy when raised, providing shade and ensuring that birds flying overhead do not see landscape reflected in the windows and fly into them by mistake. The windows are fritted as well to further avoid possible bird collisions. Exterior lighting at night is minimal, and there is no uplighting.

The facility meets the needs of both bikers and nature enthusiasts, with a bike repair area as well as nature exhibits, two classroom spaces, offices, restrooms, and storage spaces. VDT’s experiential design studio, Media-Objectives, designed the exhibits.

A constructed wastewater wetlands system—the first in Chicago and one of the first in Illinois—serves as an economical (and environmentally friendly) alternative to connecting to the city sewer system on the other side of the river. 

The use of NLT for the structure brings a number of environmental benefits as well: it is a renewable resource, wood can be grown locally rather than shipped overseas, it is highly effective at carbon sequestration, and it requires much less energy to produce than steel or concrete.

The Ford Calumet Environmental Center is a bold expression of a larger initiative striving toward the reclamation of a landscape tarnished by industry. Through environmental education and eco-recreation, the center aims to cultivate advocacy for positive change across the Calumet Region.