Incubator South and Technology Business Center at IIT
Chicago
These two buildings are contributing structures to the 2005 Mies Van der Rohe academic campus National Register listing. The Engineering Research Building (ERB) was built in 1944, designed by Mies Van der Rohe. The Chemical Research Building (CRB) was completed in 1959, designed by Schmidt, Garden, and Erickson. The ERB had stood empty for many years. This adaptive reuse and painstaking restoration returned it to viability and “has been key in anchoring and activating the south end of Mies’ famous IIT campus.” The interior now houses state of the art laboratory spaces for research and offices for commercializing new technology. Exterior renovations include restoring wood window frames, unusual use of that material for Mies, but due to wartime shortages of steel. CRB is a contributing structure whose fenestration was also restored, as well as exterior masonry.