Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood has experienced a dramatic revitalization over the last two decades, transforming from an industrial concentration of factories and warehouses to a sought-after location for renowned restaurants, high-end galleries and luxury apartments. With this growth came new employment opportunities across sectors, skillsets and income levels—and prohibitively expensive housing that excluded the neighborhood’s lower-income workforce.

Lake Street Studios provides sixty-one affordable, transit-oriented micro-units, ensuring that the men and women who drive Chicago’s service industries not only have safe, affordable and quality housing, but also critical access to opportunities, social services and the jobs they depend on to survive.

Purposeful, seamless design ensures the structure blends skillfully with the surrounding neighborhood. Balancing movement and stillness, the building’s aesthetic responds to its transit-centered context—the newly reconstructed CTA ‘L’ station; the Chicago River; pedestrian and automotive traffic patterns—while cost-effective, sustainable design components prove that a building can positively impact its residents and its environment—building a better future for all.