Englewood Accelerator

Working with Shed Studio, Civic Projects designed a space for the Greater Englewood CDC's business accelerator. Now home to 110+ entrepreneurs providing public and private work, the space opened in 2015 as the first business accelerator on Chicago's South Side. The program continues to expand as it provides training, leadership workshops and classes. It is now one of the State's Small Business Development Centers. The project evolved out of a series of workshops with the non-profit and local entrepreneurs. Students in the College of Architecture at IIT assisted on a series of design ideas and prototypes to showcase local products and provide a visual divide between the public and private spaces within the accelerator. Ultimately, the design process led to developing a screen—composed of hexagonal modular elements painted in varying shades of blue—to provide visual and spatial interest.