Multi-use Innovation

This is a very quick sketch of the Independence Library and Apartments designed by Chicago Architecture firm: John Ronan Architects. The design uses the majority of the first 3 floors for a public library, and the rest of the building is senior living. Pairing these two building types into one is a perfect marriage, and the architecture itself delineates the uses with contrasting materials: gray and glass for the library, and a more massive white volume with rectangles of color punched into the building for the senior living. It is a clever combination of uses, and an equally clever design.