This office building designed for the Hyde Park Bank echoes the compact scale and decorative appeal of branch banks Louis Sullivan designed for small Midwestern communities a century earlier. The 2,000-square-foot building is located on a narrow lot along a Chicago industrial corridor.

Our goal was to express the role of contemporary lending –stability, transparency, vision, and dedication to the public—through the synthesis of architecture and graphic design. We worked closely with The Grillo Group, a graphic design consultant, in creating murals that decorate the building’s south facade, lobby, atrium, and private offices.

Awards: AIA Illinois, Frank Lloyd Wright Award, 2010; AIA Chicago, Honor Award, 2010

Photography: Barbara Karant