First Look at the Recently Approved Lycée Francais Building

Curbed was snooping around the architecture blogosphere this afternoon, when we encountered early renderings for the new Lycée Francais de Chicago building, to be built on four acres of the old Ravenswood Hospital site. Also known as The French International School, Lycée Francais de Chicago commissioned the team of Krueck & Sexton and STL Architects, to design a new, larger home. The Architect's Newspaper got a hold of renderings, one of which is pictured above. A crude rendering or two had been kicking around from the pre-approval days, but this is the first we've seen with any detail. According to Mark Sexton of Krueck & Sexton, the school wanted an innovative building that conveyed "an idea of Frenchness". To the architects, that meant openness, transparency, ease of movement, and ample recreational space. The building will house elementary, middle, and high, stacked one on top of the other. The school's present location, at 613 Bittersweet Place, is definitely drab and so very un-French. Fundraising is on for construction, with projected completion in fall 2015.
·Bonjour Les Enfants [The Architect's Newspaper]
·Official Site: Lycee Chicago