2025 Lerch Bates
People's Choice Awards Finalists

This project introduces two thoughtful interventions—a reception desk and bookstore shelving—into the historic interior of the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum in Chicago. Honoring the site’s domestic scale and legacy of craft, the design responds to the Italianate architecture through careful detailing, material selection, and proportion. The reception desk, carved beneath the central stair, creates a signature centerpiece for the institution, while the earnest bookstore shelves recall the Hull-House Kilns and workshop traditions. With minimal footprint and maximum impact, these additions redefine circulation spaces and deepen public engagement, transforming the museum into a more inclusive, functional, and civically resonant environment.
Image credit: Jane Addams Hull-House Museum / Sara Larson