ACADEMY FOR GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

Located on Chicago's southwest side, the Cultivate Collective Campus is a multi-tenant, six-acre site that is home to the Academy for Global Citizenship K-8 elementary school, an early childhood Head Start center, a community health care center, a three-acre urban farm, community gardens, a neighborhood marketplace, six teaching kitchens, and a range of community wellness programs and amenities.

The Academy for Global Citizenship aims to foster systematic change and holistic learning through the implementation of a new, replicable model for 21st century learning. As Architect of Record, SMNG A Ltd. along with Associate Architect Farr Associates led the architectural design and construction of this net-positive energy campus, which is also set to be Chicago’s first Living Building Challenge-compliant and Phius-certified building. The entire campus is designed as a learning laboratory, with the school itself embodying AGC's mission to provide an innovative and holistic environment for education. The building comprises open classroom concepts that support a communal learning model, collaborative learning labs, and outdoor learning spaces.

Notable sustainability features include a highly efficient building envelope, a geothermal loop that feeds a radiant heating and cooling system, a graywater capture and reuse system, and a future wind turbine. Net positive energy is achieved via 600kW of roof and ground-mounted solar panels equipped with an energy storage battery for climate resilience.