For proof that Chicago remains the city that works, one need go no farther than 3410 W. Lake St. in the Garfield Park neighborhood. That’s where you’ll find the newly renovated home for Revolution Workshop, a nonprofit that provides construction training for underserved communities on the South and West sides.
Since its inception in 2018, Revolution Workshop has been housed in a 100-year-old former soda factory under the “L” facing the park. The industrial building is typical of many Chicago neighborhoods, with graceful wood bow trusses providing wide open spaces between masonry bearing walls. Revolution previously occupied the 7,000-square-foot eastern portion of the structure. That facility has now been augmented by adding the adjacent 5,000-square-foot structure and reorganizing the interior spaces.
The renovation was designed by Future Firm, a decade-old firm based in the Loop. Partners Ann Lui and Craig Reschke, who are married, started Future Firm after leaving Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. The two have focused on serving nonprofit and cultural organizations; their work includes a recent refresh of the Arts of Korea galleries at the Art Institute of Chicago and a renovation and addition to the South Side Community Arts Center in Bronzeville that is now under construction.
During design, everyone at Revolution was clear about the direction: This can’t feel like a corporate office. “It has to feel like a great auto mechanic shop where you can show up and hang out with people you know and trust,” Lui said.
The shop space, where trainees learn construction through a hands-on approach, spans the width of the building in the front. The shop rises the full height of the building under the bow trusses to support the widely varied construction activities that Revolution’s trainees learn each session. Large fans between the trusses provide air movement while the existing garage doors facing Lake Street are often opened to provide natural ventilation and replicate the changeable weather conditions — hot, cold and everything in between — that graduates will encounter on construction sites. The regular clatter of the Lake Street “L” provides another nuisance for the trainees, but it fits well within Revolution’s “real world” approach.
“Construction in Chicago is not for the faint of heart,” Revolution co-founder and Executive Director Manny Rodriguez said.
Administrative offices, a classroom, a meeting room and a small lunch room are arrayed along the back half of the structure. The interior design is color-coded with a muted orange and blue palette with orange for the training spaces and blue for administrative facilities. The architects wanted to differentiate between the two primary functions, but the process of choosing colors was torturous. They based the palette on the colors found on the portable toilets during construction. Two mezzanine spaces are tucked between the trusses, one accessible from the shop floor for the trainees and another accessed via the office area for staff.
The most memorable features are the railings and screens made of a through-color wood fiber panel, an economical sheet product that can be cut and tooled like plywood. Future Firm elevates the panels by perforating the sheets with a varied series of round holes — sized according to common bit sizes that the trainees will use during their new careers in construction. The cost-conscious material becomes decorative and instructive while forming large portions of the new architectural interventions.
Revolution’s trainees participated directly in some aspects of the renovation. “I had them demo the entire (space),” Rodriguez said. “We paid them $15 an hour; they were getting trained on a real project with a real deadline.” And the organization’s wood shop acted as a subcontractor on the project as well.
True to its mission throughout construction, Revolution required its hired contractors to represent the organization’s makeup to the maximum extent possible. Ultimately, 95% of construction team members were women and/or minority business enterprises. “We’re trying to change architecture and construction at the same time,” Lui said.
Rodriguez embodies the organization: He’s a Chicago native who was introduced to construction at 15 when a Boy Scout leader took him under his wing and provided the trade, and life, skills that Rodriguez now shares with each cohort at Revolution. And while not every person who starts the program will finish — there’s an 80% graduation rate — the successes are real.
“By the end of 12 weeks, you see resilience in human beings and how if you’re given a real opportunity, you can thrive,” Rodriguez said.
Critical to completing the project was a community development grant of $2.5 million awarded by the city in January 2024.
“Eighty percent of these projects don’t finish because people are awarded the money, but they can’t get the projects over the finish line,” Lui said. “We were able to because Manny is a fighter and is connected to the construction industry.”
“How do we do development on the South and the West sides in a way that will catalyze change?” Lui asked. “There’s only so many of those that can happen, and they only happen in a very certain way.”
Revolution Workshop stands as a testament to the fact that good design doesn’t have to be complicated or overly fancy. Thoughtful and done with great purpose, Future Firm’s smart design supports activities that improve lives in tangible ways. Architecture becomes real only through construction. And while building methods evolve over time, much of the process never gets easy. And a lot of it is hidden from public view, including much of the workforce.
Revolution Workshop is dedicated to creating opportunities for disadvantaged South and West Side residents to join the field as well-trained workers whose diverse experiences can elevate the profession. And Future Firm has created a space that facilitates this training while providing a tangible example of architecture’s power to inspire as well.
Edward Keegan writes, broadcasts and teaches on architectural subjects. Keegan’s biweekly architecture column is supported by a grant from former Tribune critic Blair Kamin, as administered by the not-for-profit Journalism Funding Partners. The Tribune maintains editorial control over assignments and content.
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