Designs for Dignity (D4D), a Chicago-based nonprofit, strives to empower lives through design by serving other Chicago area nonprofits with pro bono services and in-kind donations. Architecture, engineering, and design professionals work together to deliver human-centric spaces for these service-oriented organizations. This allows the groups to focus on their core mission in a place that supports hope, dignity, and comfort for maximum positive impact on each individual who enters the facility.
One of D4D’s recent beneficiaries is the Chicago Jesuit Academy (CJA), a school that opened in 2005 with 19 fifth graders housed in two rented classrooms. The tuition-free academy has since grown to serve nearly 400 students, its location anchoring the Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s west side.
Serving grades 3 through 8, the school draws its students from families impacted by historic disinvestment in the surrounding neighborhoods. What’s unique about CJA is that the school system continues working with students long after graduation, providing all levels of support as they transition to high school, post-high school options, and on to the start of their careers.
Until recently, the school had only been able to enroll boys. The recent renovation and expansion of their facility added approximately 50,000 square feet of academic space, enlarging the dining and support facilities as well as alumni and counseling offices. This allowed the school to expand their mission to include girls, with the first class accepted in Fall 2023.
Studying Up
After vetting and accepting the CJA project application, D4D enlisted volunteer and SCB associate Gail Wozniak, NCIDQ, LEED AP, as design lead, with building undertaken by Walsh Construction. The project benefited from 505 pro bono design hours along with donated furniture and finishes, for a nearly $2 million total project impact.
Academy president Matthew C. Lynch explained the synergy the school’s representatives felt at the outset with the D4D partners. “When we started talking with D4D about our campus expansion and our new girls’ program, D4D’s only consideration was how to give all of our students the very best environment in which to learn,” he said. “The starting point was never about ‘good enough.’ Instead, the D4D team asked, ‘What do we hope every child could have?’ Then they helped us build to that vision.”
Wozniak elaborated on the architecture firm’s methodology. “SCB approached the [CJA] project with consciously integrative design methods, with a deep awareness for unconscious biases. Drawing on our long history of working with the school and their incredible staff, we understood the strength of CJA’s bond to the community they serve,” she said.
Wanting the space to reflect the community and the academy’s legacy as an institution in the neighborhood, Wozniak said, led SCB to workshop with parents, faculty, and staff on “how the spaces should feel; what colors and textures we should celebrate; and, equally important, what we should avoid.”
The architecture and design team introduced the school representatives to trauma-informed design principles in order to better determine “how these could inform the design and be integrated in a meaningful way,” Wozniak continued.
Acing the Final
The results are evident through the final design which celebrates nature by incorporating warm wood tones, promotes calm via diffused lighting, and assists faculty and staff in cultivating a positive space for learning, while allowing for flexibility and creativity to nurture students’ well-being. For instance, trapezoidal desks can be reconfigured for group work or independent learning, and solo reading nooks are placed strategically for quiet time. Both commissioned and student art also feature prominently throughout the building, connecting the pupils and the wider CJA community.
“When I walk our halls, I find myself wishing every child could have the gift of learning in such warm and welcoming spaces, and I remain grateful beyond any words for D4D’s extraordinary work and collaboration with us in beautifully furnishing our entire campus,” Lynch concluded. “They gave our school community an amazing gift that our students, alumni, faculty, and staff treasure each day.”
An abridged version of this article is featured in the November/December 2024 issue of i+s.
