The renovation of the Law School Reflecting Pool at the University of Chicago received the President’s Award at the 2009 awards ceremony of the Illinois Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). The President’s Award is the highest honor and recognition a project can receive from Illinois ASLA.

The Law School is a landmark of modernism, designed by Eero Saarinen in the late 1950s. Saarinen organized the law school quadrangle around a central reflecting pool, in order to mirror the law school library and surrounding buildings. After forty years, however, the pool was significantly degraded, and in the winter it was nothing more than an empty, unattractive basin. The University recognized the need to upgrade the space to bring the school’s physical environment closer to its academic standing.

The restoration goal was twofold: Improve the appearance of the reflecting pool and courtyard, and respect the original, and now-historic, Saarinen design. The exploration of multiple alternatives based upon design, function, cost, and maintenance considerations led to the solution of a “zero depth pool” where, when there is water in the pool, the black granite paving is covered by a one-quarter inch film of water, creating a smooth sheet of water that mirrors the buildings, trees, clouds, and sky. Just as important, however, are the months when there is no water in the pool. During winter the pool appears as a simple black granite plaza, instead of the empty basin that had made the law school’s first, and poor, impression for many decades.

While the result appears to be a simple and minimal solution, there were significant technical challenges to achieving the appearance of simplicity. For the design to succeed, it was essential to achieve a constant elevation on the stone pavers over the length and width of a 150’ x 87’ pool, and to have a constant and uniform elevation to the paving at the pool’s edge. The former was accomplished through a pedestal paver system with a continuous screw-type adjustment within the pedestal. The latter was more difficult, as the adjacent paving is poured-in-place concrete with fields of exposed aggregate and stripes of smooth-float concrete, and was a real accomplishment in terms of construction quality control on the part of the concrete contractor.

In addition to the level surface required, a smooth surface to the water was also required to achieve the mirror-like surface. This was achieved by supplying water from below through open joints in the granite pavers, distributed over such a large area, and through so many joints, that the flow is invisible and does not ripple the surface, giving the appearance of a still sheet of water.

The client was The University of Chicago (www.uchicago.edu). Wolff Landscape Architecture was the lead designer and prime consultant. The landscape architect worked with an outstanding team of consultants including Nagle Hartray Danker Kagan McKay Penney Architects (www.nhdkmp.com) Prism Engineering (www.prism-eng.com), Weber Consultants, MEP engineers (www.weberconsultants.com), and Delta Fountains, water feature consultants (www.deltafountains.com).

Renovation of the 13,050 square foot reflecting pool and surrounding quadrangle paving were completed in 2008. Wolff Landscape Architecture, Inc. is proud to be a firm whose planning and design work and projects are repeatedly honored and recognized with awards.

University of Illinois Business School Recognized in ASLA Awards Program
December 2009

The Business Instructional Facility at the University of Illinois Urbana – Champaign was recognized with a Merit Award at the 2009 awards ceremony of the Illinois Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).

The BIF is organized around the three-story “Commons” which is an indoor public space at the center of the facility. The fourth side of the Commons is a glass curtain wall that connects the Commons visually to a large exterior courtyard. The courtyard and all site hardscape and landscape were the design responsibility of Wolff Landscape Architecture, Inc. from conceptual design through documentation and construction administration. The courtyard is organized and subdivided by paving strips that extend the geometry of the building and reinforce the relationship between architecture and landscape. A linear fountain runs from one end of the courtyard to the other. A closely spaced row of birch trees reinforces the linear quality of the landscape design, and also shades the west façade of the building. A small lawn provides space for informal seating, and the adjacent area planted with native prairie plants provides a link to the pre-settlement landscape of the area, seasonal interest, and a path for surface drainage to an adjacent low area planted as a sedge meadow natural area that provides on-site stormwater retention. A variety of sizes and kinds of seating areas are provided to facilitate discussions amongst the small groups that are a feature of the Business School’s curriculum.

The project achieved LEED “Platinum” certification, with the landscape contributing to a number of credits through the use of native plants, on-site stormwater retention, green roofs, and no use of potable water for irrigation. The Platinum certification is a tribute to the University’s and design team’s commitment to sustainable design, and at the time of certification the BIF was the first “Platinum” certified building at any public university in the world, and one of only 15 platinum certified buildings in Illinois.

The client was The University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign (www.illinois.edu) and the College of Business at Illinois (www.business.illinois.edu). Wolff Landscape Architecture was the landscape architect and lead designer for landscape and hardscape, including the water feature, site fixtures and furnishings, and site coordination. The Design Architect was Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects of New York and New Haven, Connecticut (www.pcparch.com). The Architect of Record and civil engineer was Dewberry (www.dewberry.com).

Construction of the new Business Instructional Facility was completed in July 2008 with the building occupied for the Fall 2008 semester, as scheduled.

Wolff Landscape Architecture, Inc. is proud to be a firm whose planning and design work and projects are repeatedly honored and recognized with awards.

Baker and Skowlund are LEED Accredited Professionals
January 2009

Ben Baker, ASLA, LEED AP and Michael Skowlund, ASLA, LEED AP, Senior Landscape Architects at Wolff Landscape Architecture, Inc. recently passed the United States Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED NC (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design - New Construction) examination.

Ben and Mike are now LEED Accredited Professionals (AP).  Congratulations to both Ben and Mike.

Ted Wolff Appointed Adjunct Professor of Landscape Architecture at IIT
April 2009

Ted Wolff, Principal of Wolff Landscape Architecture, Inc. has been appointed Adjunct Professor of Landscape Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT).  IIT recently inaugurated a master’s degree program in landscape architecture, and the first class of students is currently in its third and final year.  Peter Osler, a registered architect and landscape architect, has been appointed Director of the Program of Landscape Architecture.  The IIT landscape architecture program is a unique program between the coasts with its combination of an urban setting and its location in the College of Architecture.

Mr. Wolff taught the second year design studio during the fall 2008 semester, leading students through a series of site planning, site design, urban planning and design, and landscape design problems and projects focused on the concept of momentum, understanding a site’s precedents and past direction and where that leads, or could lead, a subsequent site or landscape design or other intervention.

Regarding Mr. Wolff, Peter L. Osler said:

We are elated to have Ted join us.  Ted's energy, skills, and talents - and especially his insistence for high standards - have quickly made a noticeable mark on our students' work.  Bringing one of Chicago's most notable landscape architects onto our faculty bolsters our reputation as a program on the local, regional and national level.

Mr. Wolff has been practicing landscape architecture in Chicago since 1979, when he started at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.  Mr. Wolff was an Associate when he chose to leave in 1990 in order to start and lead his own landscape architecture practice.  Regarding his appointment at IIT Mr. Wolff said:

I am thrilled and honored to be asked to teach at IIT.  The College of Architecture has a world-class reputation, and it’s an honor to be teaching at the school where Mies van der Rohe was dean, a school where so many distinguished Chicago architects received their professional education, and a school that continues to have the finest instruction in architecture, including participation by so many talented practicing professionals who make it a priority to find time for teaching and the development of the next generation of architects, and now landscape architects.

It is also an honor to be teaching where Alfred Caldwell taught for so many years.  I had the chance to meet Caldwell and get to know him after he retired from IIT, to hear him speak, and to spend time at his home in Bristol, Wisconsin, and I am proud of the restoration of the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool in Lincoln Park, which is perhaps Caldwell’s greatest work, a restoration which was done by our firm under my direction. Teaching in Crown Hall, in the same building where Caldwell and Mies van der Rohe taught… I think I’ve died and gone to heaven!

Mr. Wolff has been invited to teach the second year design studio again during the fall 2009 semester.

Gold Star Families Memorial and Park Receives ASLA Honor Award
December 2008

The Gold Star Families Memorial and Park was recognized with an Honor Award in Design in the 2008 Awards Program sponsored by the Illinois Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).

Gold Star Families Memorial and Park, also known as the Chicago Police Memorial, occupies a five-acre site of highly visible, nearly invaluable, lakefront park land in the museum campus in Burnham Park between Soldier Field and Burnham Harbor.

The Memorial is a solemn and dignified place of remembrance for the more than 520 Chicago police officers who have died in the line and performance of duty since the department and its predecessors were founded over 150 years ago.  The memorial is a place of remembrance for the families, friends, and colleagues of the slain officers, and also attracts and accommodates visitors and park users.

The Chicago Police Memorial Foundation was the client for this extraordinary place of remembrance, and their charge to the design team was to make this the best law enforcement memorial in the country.  In addition, the Foundation was clear that the memorial and park should not only memorialize the police officers that made the ultimate sacrifice, but also communicates something about their values, and how they lived their lives.  As a result of the Foundation’s direction, the Memorial includes not only elements of grief and remembrance, but also elements that convey a sense of life, including water, landscaping, and a “sacrifice space” that is open to the sun and the sky with trees and a panel of grass at the very center.

The park is long, and the landscape architect chose to treat it as a series of episodes and events, a string of pearls, along a continuous pedestrian walkway.  At both ends are entry spaces, circular outdoor rooms containing a grove of river birch trees, and marked with tall stainless steel pylons that are the first expression of the iconic checkerboard motif so strongly associated with the Chicago Police Department.  The checkerboard pattern is repeated throughout the park, sometimes more abstract, as in the water wall behind the central gathering space, sometimes more literal, as in the border of the names of the fallen officers in the “sacrifice space“ at the center of the memorial.

There are four “values” nodes along the path representing service, family, courage, and honor, four of the core values of the Chicago Police Department and its officers.  The central gathering space, with the backdrop of the large water wall, is a place that is used by the Foundation, for example at the St. Jude’s Day and Father’s Day services, but is also used by other park groups, so that casual park users are exposed to the Memorial, because the memorial is part of the park, not something apart from it.

Wolff Landscape Architecture, Inc. was selected for this assignment, and began work in late 2004.  Gold Star Families Memorial and Park was opened at a public dedication ceremony in August 2007.

Business Instructional Facility, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
August 2008

The College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has built the first new classroom building at the University in years, and the first new facility for the Business School in decades.  The “BIF” is organized around a three-story “commons,” an interior open space with a full-height glass curtain wall facing south.  Outside of the commons is an outdoor courtyard which is an extension of the commons.  The indoor commons and the outdoor courtyard are at the heart of the facility.

Wolff Landscape Architecture, Inc. took the lead in the design of the courtyard, site perimeter, and streetscape.  Objectives for the courtyard include circulation to and from the building, seasonal interest and beauty, outdoor gathering space for receptions, ceremonies, and other Business School events, and small gathering places and seating for individual students and small study groups or teams.

The courtyard extends the architectural design of the commons into the landscape.  Strong feature strips project out from the building, and the spaces between them are a series of linear spaces including walkways, water feature, lawn area, prairie planting, and sedge meadow.  Within the prairie planting and at the edge of the courtyard are linear and circular benches that accommodate both individuals and the small teams of students so integral to the Business School’s curriculum and approach to instruction.

The project recently received certification at the LEED “Gold” level, and is the University of Illinois’ first LEED certified building at any level.
The design architect is Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects (http://www.pcparch.com) of New York.  The architect of record is Dewberry (www.dewberry.com) of Peoria, Illinois, joined by numerous specialty consultants including Atelier Ten (www.atelierten.com), LEED consultant, environmental designers, and building services engineers; KJWW (www.kjww.com), MEP engineers; and Clanton Associates (www.clantonassociates.com), lighting designers.

Wolff Landscape Architecture, Inc. was the project design landscape architect and landscape architect of record, responsible for site hardscape and landscape design and documentation, including site and landscape LEED credits.

Groundbreaking took place in May 2006, with construction in June 2008 and occupancy immediately thereafter.

Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America
June 2007

Construction is well under way at the new corporate headquarters for Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America.  Located on a 70 acre site in Deerfield, Illinois adjacent to the Tri-State Tollway, Phase 1 consists of two buildings with approximately 350,000 square feet of space, structured and surface parking for 1,100 cars, roads, detention ponds, site development, and landscaping.

Wolff Landscape Architecture, Inc. has been on the planning and design team since the beginning, and had an integral role in the development of the site Master Plan, with anticipated final build-out consisting of five buildings in four phases.  Preparation of detailed landscape plans at the early design stages of the project was essential for the annexation, zoning, and entitlements process with the Village of Deerfield, as well as for project cost estimating.

Takeda’s new corporate headquarters will be certified at the “silver” level by the United States Green Building Council in its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system.

The planning and design team is led by Thompson Ventulett Stainback & Associates, Inc. (www.tvsa.com), the design architect and architect of record.  Hines (www.hines.com) is the Development Manager on behalf of Takeda, and there is an extensive team of other consultants, including v3 (www.v3co.com), civil engineers and others.

Ground was broken in the summer of 2005, with construction to be completed in 2007

2005 Illinois ASLA Awards

Wolff Landscape Architecture, Inc. received four professional awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects in 2005. 

The Calumet Plans received a national Honor Award in “Analysis and Planning” from the American Society of Landscape Architects (www.asla.org).  The client was the City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development.  The prime consultant was Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP (www.som.com).  Wolff Landscape Architecture, Inc. had primary responsibility for the Calumet Open Space Reserve, one of three components of the Calumet Plans.

The firm also received three awards from the Illinois Chapter of the ASLA (www.il-asla.org) for the Calumet Plans, Honor Award in Planning and Analysis, the Levy Senior Center Enabling Garden (www.cityofevanston.org), Merit Award in Design, and the Gary Green Link Master Plan (www.gary.in.us/planning/developing_11.asp), Merit Award in Planning and Analysis).

The Honor award for the Calumet Plans is the second ASLA national award received by the firm.  The Jackson Park Pavilion received a Merit Award in 2001.  Wolff Landscape Architecture, Inc. has also received national awards from the Waterfront Center for the Chicago River Corridor Development Plan, in 2000, and the American Institute of Architects for the State Street Renovation, in 1998; SOM received this national award from the AIA, and Wolff Landscape Architecture was a consultant to SOM.

Including the three Illinois Chapter awards received in 2005, the firm has received 20 awards from the Illinois Chapter ASLA since 1993, more than any other landscape architecture firm in Illinois.  We are proud to have the reputation as a firm that consistently does award-winning planning and design projects.