Second Federal Savings
Logan Square, Chicago IL
| Type: | financial institution |
| Services: | planning, architectural & interior design, construction administration |
| Materials: | metal panel system, steel, glazed masonry |
Asked to sit on the Board of Directors and assist the community bank's strategic plan of expansion into the Mexican-American market it wished to serve, a planning and architectural opportunity to design a series of culturally branded branches was undertaken.
In assisting the client with site selection, a difficult urban location was penetrated by purchasing and subdividing a larger suitable site that resulted in significant lower land costs for the bank's use.
The building's design challenge was realized with an exterior form that recalls a familiar Mexican-Mayan cultural icon, the 'ziggurat', while simultaneously providing a layered, bright and spacious interior lobby space able to accommodate community social functions as well as provide banking services.