Renderings have emerged for the University of Chicago’s new world-class Engineering and Science Building at 5620 S. Ellis. Planned at the southwest corner of S. Ellis Ave and E. 56th St, the site is currently occupied by the Accelerator Building and High Energy Physics Building which will need to be demolished to make way for the new building.
University of Chicago New Engineering and Science BuildingHDR Architecture and Allison Grace Williams
Designed by HDR Architecture and Allison Grace Williams, the new building will house the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) and a brand-new collaborative space for growing the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE) in close partnership with quantum researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
University of Chicago New Engineering and Science BuildingHDR Architecture and Allison Grace Williams
Renderings show a glass and metal designed structure that will rise approximately eight stories, measuring 182 feet tall. The massing of the building includes a large rectangular volume oriented along S. Ellis Ave with an upper volume oriented along E. 56th St wrapped in a faceted glass exterior that cantilevers over an inset floor in between the base and the tower.
University of Chicago New Engineering and Science BuildingHDR Architecture and Allison Grace Williams
The building will also be equipped with laboratory and other research space needed for transformative engineering and science research and breakthroughs and will extend UChicago’s capabilities to serve as a training ground for next-generation engineering and science.
University of Chicago New Engineering and Science BuildingHDR Architecture and Allison Grace Williams
The CQE Project is receiving $175M total in state grants awarded to the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for the construction of the CQE facility aimed at accelerating quantum information science and technology in Illinois. Housing CQE in the new building will help support city, region, state-wide, and potentially global partnerships, truly establishing Chicago and Illinois as a hub for cutting-edge quantum research and commercialization.
The schematic design should be completed in late 2024. Main construction and foundation work will start in 2025 and be completed in 2028, with Mortenson Construction Company leading the build.
