Ford Calumet Environmental Center / Valerio Dewalt Train
+ 31
- Area:
9300 ft²
Year:
2021
Text description provided by architects The Calumet Region was once an ecological sanctuary that was dominated by wetlands. However, it has been altered by industrialization for more than a century. Big Marsh Park, a natural landscape that was damaged by slag from nearby iron mills, is Chicago Park District’s largest reclamation project. It had little to no environmental regulations up until the 1970s. Recent restoration efforts have sought to restore the park’s balance between industry, nature and culture.
Big Marsh Park now has a bike park on 45 acres and a number of walking trails that offer eco-recreation in Chicago’s Southeast Side. The Ford Calumet Environmental Center is located at the parks entrance. This serves as both an information hub and gateway, providing information about the past and setting the precedent for a new, sustainable future in the Calumet region.
The facility covers 9,300 square feet. It is used for education and park service. There is a permanent exhibit on the site and its region, classrooms, offices, restrooms, storage areas, a bike repair zone, and restrooms. The building’s materials reinforce its mission, with weathered steel cladding that recalls the site’s industrial past, in contrast to exposed Nail Laminated Timber (NLT) which alludes to an environmentally-responsive future. Two large, roof-mounted light monitors in wood cantilever clad in wood cantilever are located above the entrance. They flood the interior double height exhibition area with daylight.
Visitors are welcomed to the Calumet Region as well as the story of Big Marsh Park by the exhibit upon their entry. Steel frames feature information on wood and acrylic panels alongside custom wall murals and encased taxonomy. The interiors were designed to be flexible, as the building will be used for many different events and activities. The displays are all on wheels so they can be moved to a storage area. The opposite side of the classrooms has a retractable wall that can be used to divide or open the space.
The Chicago Parks District wanted it to feel open while also being able to be secured when park staff is not present. The center’s 10-foot-square floor-to ceiling windows face the park let in natural light deep within the space. Steel large hydraulic hangar doors that can be opened and closed by hydraulic hydraulic hinges, made from steel, fit flush with the exterior wall. The interior is visible thanks to the perforated metal screens.
Because marsh habitats are so important to migrating birds it was crucial that the design was bird-friendly. When raised, the hangar doors create a canopy over fritted glass. This provides shade and prevents birds from flying into the windows.
The FCEC uses a built wastewater wetlands system-the first in Chicago, and one of the earliest in Illinois. Its design draws inspiration from the park, using the same processes as in the marsh to produce clean waters that are then returned to the site via the leach field. The system uses plants and other organisms to filter the blackwater from buildings, rather than dumping it into the already overloaded sewer system.
The Ford Calumet Environmental Center represents a larger initiative that aims to restore a landscape that has been tainted by industry. The center promotes environmental education, eco-recreation and advocacy for positive change in the Calumet region.
