New CTS Facility

Construction of the new CTS facility is a partnership between the University of Chicago and Chicago Theological Seminary. In May 2008, University of Chicago Board of Trustees Executive Committee authorized the purchase of two Chicago Theological Seminary buildings and an adjacent parking lot. Additionally, the University of Chicago agreed to construct a new seminary building at 60th Street and Dorchester Avenue. The new building's address will be 1407 East 60th Street. The buidling will have four floors with approximately 80,000 square feet of floor space with a footprint of approximately 17, 400 sqare feet and will house academic and administrative offices, classrooms, a foodservice area, and two chapels. The facility is being designed to achieve LEED Silver Certification.

The guiding principles of design are as follows:

• Express CTS as a religious institution rooted in its past and forward-thinking in its mission
• Assimilate iconic elements of CTS’ past within the framework of the new
• Claim an independent presence while being a good neighbor on the Midway
• Express a sense of rootedness, yet also a light and transparent character that is welcoming and engaging with its community
• Feature sustainable design with a goal of LEED Silver Certification

Faculty and staff offices and classrooms will be located on the first and second floors of the building. The first floor will also include a small chapel capable of seating around thirty, and the second floor will include a meditation space. The third floor will house the Learning Commons and Student Commons. Spaces for large, public assemblies are accommodated on the fourth floor and include our new main worship space and a dining room, in addition to a kitchen.

The building will have a concrete core with brick and metal siding facings. While generally rectangular in shape, the building is energized by a series of circles that cut across each floor. The circle becomes visible on the fourth floor as the glass curtainwall in which the main chapel and dining room are housed. The warmth of wood and solidity of stone enhance these crucial public spaces as ceiling and floor, respectively.

Green roofs have been incorporated into the plan on the third floor at the Learning and Student Commons and at the fourth floor adjacent to the worship and dining areas. The 5,000 square feet of green roof space will provide visual interest and environmental benefits for the building and will be accessible to members of the community. The green roof areas absorb both heat and carbon dioxide, reducing the building’s environmental footprint. Just as important, however, is the green roof ’s symbolic presence and its communication of the Seminary’s commitment to sustainable technologies.

Grant for Green Roof

The University of Chicago has received a $50,000 grant to help fund a green roof atop the new Chicago Theological Seminary building, now under construction at 1407 E. 60th St. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity provided the grant through the Green Roofs Program of the Federal 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The new building is being designed to meet LEED Silver Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Among the building’s sustainability features will be a 5,000-square-foot green roof, which will reduce the building’s heat island effect and reduce storm water runoff while providing a vegetated outdoor landscape for occupants. The University completed its first green roof in 2009 as part of the Searle Chemistry Laboratory renovation.

The new CTS building is a construction partnership between CTS and UChicago following the University’s purchase of the two existing CTS buildings in 2008. The purchase agreement included the construction of a new four-story, 77,800 gross-square-foot building for the CTS at 60th Street and Dorchester Avenue, near the Midway Plaisance.

Story originally appeared in Newswise on 2.10.2011
Additional information in Chicago Maroon on 2.22.2011