Project Description
The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois is seeking a professional services consultant for the design, bid / award and construction phase services associated with Japan House Addition Ogura -Sato Annex Project located on the Urbana / Champaign Campus at 2000 S. Lincoln Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61802 (Building No. 0354.) The scope of work will include minor, demolition and renovation to the existing facility (which is eligible for listing on the National Registry of Historic Places,) a single-story addition and partial basement, and comprehensive landscape development related to traditional Japanese tea gardens.

Project Objectives:
Japan House's programming and related collections have expanded greatly, leading to the current facility not meetings its needs. Currently, major portions of the collections are housed offsite, which creates complicated and expensive logistics for classes and programming. In addition, the gift of other major collections is expected within the next several years. An internship program, begun in 2013, has been so successful in increasing student participation, that additional office and workspace is also now needed. The present educational room is used for all classes, meetings, hands-on workshops, and performances, leading to scheduling issues and delay in expansion of programming, despite the demand. The current tea rooms are not accessible to people with disabilities, forcing participants to sit outside the tea room. In addition, the current tea rooms are not large enough for Japan House to hold tea seminars needed in order to become a regional and national center for the study of Chado, the Way of Tea.

The 6,250 s.f. annex addition to Japan House will connect to the south west of the original facility and will be in harmony with its surroundings within the greater arboretum region. Orienting the addition at ninety degrees to the original facility helps create edges that work together to strengthen the intimate exterior space for the new and existing gardens. Through the study of Japanese aesthetics and traditional arts, special design considerations must be embraced, particularly around the time-honored art form of Chado. The ultimate vernacular, which expresses the spiritual world is the Japanese tea house and the architectural design, must always take human behavior into consideration. It seeks simplicity and tranquility which is the central tenets of Zen philosophy, so materials are traditionally pure, rustic ones with moderate coloring. Forms are carefully fashioned in such a manner that epitomize the dynamic balance between object and space, action and inaction, sound and silence, movement and rest.

Selective program functions and rooms within the existing Japan House will experience minor modifications but are intended to remain operational through the renovation. The proposed entry vestibule linking the old to the new will provide an all-weather buffer and allow for the separation of the existing south door to be used primarily for deliveries and staff. A new 12 mat, accessible tea room is the focal point of the addition, with a pre-function space between it and the office area allowing meaningful daylight and views to the garden. A moderate commercial kitchen will be included in the scope, proximal to the tea room, as will a cafe / gift shop which will have a discrete link to the addition and will operate independently from other operations. The multipurpose classroom is also centrally located and is to be buffered from the tea room by a systems zone including restrooms, stair, and a limited use / limited access elevator to the basement storage.

See attached ad for complete details and all submittal information including mandatory electronic submittals.