Primera Engineers is proud to be a key member of the design team charged with bringing the new, innovative Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) facility to Chicago’s new 78 neighborhood. The Primera team will be providing mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection (MEP/FP) design services as part of a partnership agreement with OMA and Jacobs.
The plan for the DPI began in 2016 under the leadership of members from the University of Illinois. The goal was “to build an institution where students and faculty from Illinois campuses and other individuals can interact with academic partners and business partners, take classes, do research, intern with private companies, learn entrepreneurship and work with community agencies1.” The DPI, slated to be completed in 2024, will be a $250M, 500,000 sq. ft. global research institute that will put Chicago on the map as a leader in tech. It will be a place where companies, researchers, students, and University faculty can access each other’s knowledge, advanced equipment, and funding to foster innovation and entrepreneurship, and turn their ideas into reality.
Primera’s Senior Vice President and Director of Business Development, Lourdes Gonzalez, had been tracking news of DPI since before the Capital Development Board put out the call for professional services in early 2020, and led our efforts in getting Primera on several of the competing design teams. “This is an exciting win for Primera. Not only is it the firm’s largest project award to date, but also because we are playing a major role in transforming the city of Chicago into a major tech hub and helping the Midwest region quickly become the next Silicon Valley,” said Lourdes. More information about the DPI can be found here.
Photography ©dpi.uillinois.edu. and 78chicago.com
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