When the producers of “Incredibles 2” start casting about for a storyline and characters for “Incredibles 3,” they needn’t look any further than Chicago Market’s Site/Architecture team of super-amazing architects, designers and engineers. And that’s no tall tale.

Our Co-op superheroes...

...(aka “team of design professionals”) officially kicked off their collaboration to build Chicago Market with a 2-day confab June 26-27. Dan Miller, Site/Arch Committee Chair and Board member had a dual agenda: 1) to discuss the myriad technical, artistic and environmental details involved in the build-out our grocery store in the Gerber building and 2) to coalesce as a team.

Mission accomplished.

“The kick-off was great,” says Dan. “I felt it was important that we spend a good chunk of time together as a team discussing the entire process. As I suspected, we got along really well, and we really gained a sense of each other and began to develop trust. I’m confident that we have a really smart team, one that is really excited about the Co-op project. We also hosted a meet-and-greet social hour so that the Board of Directors could come in and meet the architects and designers. I’m glad we did, because that helped to foster transparency and trust between the Board and the design team.”

Dan also took the lead in ensuring that the team checked items off on the long list of technical considerations that the team needed to address:

- Chicago Market-specific intentions, aspirations and needs
- Schedules and milestones
- Retail spaces / departments and nonretail areas
- Customer flow
- Mechanical, electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling
- Green building and sustainability practices
- Building codes and zoning issues
- Equipment and furnishings
- Loading dock
- Entrances, parking and pedestrian traffic

Dan says that while things initially “got real” for the Site/Arch team as soon as the lease was signed and Chicago Market had the keys to the Gerber Building in hand, reality now entails the huge responsibility of getting the design and building underway expediently and cost-effectively.

A huge shout-out to this incredible team!

Chicago Market Site/Arch team: Jonathan Glick, Dan Miller (Chair), Doug Sandberg and Greg Berlowitz

Architects, Designers and Engineers: Cheryl Noel and Ravi Ricker, Wrap Architecture; John Hatzung, freshArc; Dan Couillard, Element Energy Consulting

Enjoy the photos of the Kick-Off in action.

Previous Site/Arch blog posts:
Ten Giant Steps to Get to Opening Day of Chicago Market – Your Community Co-op
One ‘Big, Bright, Beautiful’ Co-op Coming Your Way