The Forum, Keller’s signature space, is a sun-streaked, four-level atrium carved out of the existing building structure wrapped by glass-walled classrooms and team rooms. The Forum is home to daily collaborative problem-solving and dialogue as well as world-class speakers and events.

The addition of a green roof paired with a 15,000 gallon rainwater cistern mitigates the stormwater on the Keller Center site.

Rainwater captured on the roof is stored in the cistern to be used to flush toilets and landscape irrigation. This has the dual benefit of reducing burdens on the City of Chicago’s combined sewer system, while saving 525,208 gallons of fresh water per year.

The Keller Center’s solar energy system produces up to 152,055 kWh of carbon-free electricity each year. This is enough energy to power 11% of the building’s annual energy use, or about 15 average homes annually.

To use 46% less energy than permitted by code, the project employs a full menu of energy efficiency strategies including daylighting strategies and skylights with integrated shading systems, LED lights, and radiant heating and cooling.

The story of the Keller Center begins with a 55-year-old enduring piece of architecture. Its façade weathered, the infrastructure was at the end of useful life, but it had sturdy foundations with good structural bones.

A thoughtful transformation of the building celebrated Stone’s signature design; decorative engravings wrapping the slender encircling columns, white concrete perforated canopy, and limestone facade to create an encompassing experience. New passages erode the monumental plinth leading to glass insertions nested in the limestone.