Illinois Institute of Technology architecture students win competition to design new campus for Head Start to be built in Hoffman Estates
Chicago, IL — April 22, 2001 —
On Monday, April 23, Community and Economic Development Association (CEDA) President Robert Wharton will visit IIT’s S. R. Crown Hall to award College of Architecture students who created the winning design for a new Head Start Center to be built in Hoffman Estates. The visit will occur at 6:00 p.m. in Crown Hall at 3360 S. State Street.
CEDA, which runs the Chicagoland area Head Start programs, asked IIT’s College of Architecture students to help design the new Head Start Center, which would centralize all the social services provided by Head Start. Six teams of five students, ranging from sophomores to graduate students, led by a faculty advisor, developed plans for the building based on CEDA’s requirements.
CEDA wanted the new Head Start Center to bring together all the social services provided by Head Start, including health care, continuing education for parents, children’s classes, teen parent counseling and after school programs. The winning design incorporates a central meeting space/auditorium, several classrooms, clinic spaces, conference rooms, and offices in one sprawling building.
Head Start is a nationwide not-for-profit organization that provides educational and other social services to underprivileged children ages 0 through 5, pregnant women, and their families. In most major cities, including Chicago, various Head Start services are provided at locations throughout the city. CEDA asked IIT’s College of Architecture students to design a building that would serve as a prototype for future Head Start facilities that would bring all the services provided by Head Start under one roof.
Founded in 1890, IIT is a Ph.D.-granting technological university that awards degrees in the sciences, mathematics, and engineering, as well as architecture, psychology, design, business, and law. IIT’s interprofessional, technology-focused curriculum prepares the university’s 6,200 students for leadership roles in an increasingly complex and culturally diverse global workplace.
