[ Studio Gang Architects ] SOS Children’s Villages Lavezzorio Community Center

Architect: Studio Gang Architects
Location: Chicago, IL, USA
Owner: SOS Children’s Villages
Completion: 2008
Photographs: Steve Hall @ Hedrich Blessing

SOS community center combines services for foster care families and neighborhood families in one building. SOS is an international not-for-profit agency committed to training foster parents and reuniting siblings.

Multi-faceted public spaces in the building encourage a range of learning opportunities and social interaction. An extra-wide stair in the lobby doubles as classroom seating and an impromptu stage for performance. A large community room on the second floor serves as classroom, exercise room and meeting space. Daycare classrooms on the ground floor are oriented around and have direct access to a sunlit outdoor play area. Working with budget constraints led to a design that expresses its materiality in a direct way. Concrete is layered in bands with color variation to reveal its liquid nature.


from  archdaily