Argo Tea-osk in the Park
Developed as a partnership with the Chicago Park District, Argo Tea took on the building of a cafe pavilion in an underutilized urban park. Originally designed as a curving glass building, value engineering exercises were necessary to bring the project in under budget.
The solution was to use a prefabricated greenhouse structure, wrapped with curved trellis elements to emulate the original design. The building uses passive heating and cooling elements (as is standard with greenhouses), supplemented with low velocity/high volume fans, central air and gas heating; for year-round comfort in Chicago weather extremes.
Open Landscape areas are designed for public seating or occasional community events.