Take a Tour of Illinois Tech’s Newly Renovated George J. Kacek Hall
TRANSCRIPT
Dirk Denison (ARCH ’83, M.B.A. ’85), Illinois Tech professor of architecture: Hi, I’m Dirk Denison, and I have the privilege and honor of welcoming you to George J. Kacek Hall. This is particularly exciting for me as the architect and lead designer on the renovation of this building, but also as an alumnus and professor here at Illinois Tech.
Let's start coming into the building. Kacek Hall is designed to welcome you with the landscape so important to the Illinois Tech campus and lead you into this beautiful covered canopy provided to us by the original architect, Mies van der Rohe.
As you enter the transparent lobby, we welcome you into a space which says home to our students and which provides access upstairs to the residential floors and down through a beautiful new stairway to a social and study area on the lower level. We were able to develop both study and recreation lounge and workout spaces on the lower level.
We have a variety of dorm rooms—singles, doubles, and triples—laid out in two groups on the floor designed for about 20 students. Each room is laid out for flexibility so that each student moving in can make their own statement in the space, while at the same time everybody gets great light and amazing views.
In the study lounge we have chairs for individual work, a big central table for group work, a white board for brainstorming, and then a long counter along the window that allows for great views to the city and the campus behind. The social lounge is much more comfy—big chairs and sofas, and a kitchenette for late-night popcorn making.
Our bathrooms are set up in what we call pod style, which have opened sinks and counters and then private individual stalls for the toilets and the showers.
I have so enjoyed taking you on this tour today. It is really exciting to see students now enjoying their new home, and to know how important this experience is to the quality of their residential life on campus.
