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, co-founded by Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture Adjunct Professor Annabell Ren (B.ARCH. ’14), is celebrating its first year with flourish: two 2025 American Institute of Architects Chicago awards 

Ren’s personal project, an African cultural project in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood, was presented with the Roberta Feldman Architecture for Social Justice Award. The Roberta Feldman Architecture for Social Justice Award was established in 2020 to honor excellence in built projects and design programs guided by the conviction that access to high quality architecture is not a privilege, but a human right. The award celebrates designers who work pro bono or at below-market rate, and it comes with a $2,500 award. 

Titled the African Heritage Hut and designed by Ren, the project offers a shaded relief for visitors to the North Lawndale Historical and Cultural Society garden. It is nestled in the African Heritage Garden between a brick wall and flower plots, and it served as Ren’s yearly pro bono project. Ren participated in the Chicago Sukkah Design Festival that was hosted on the garden grounds last year, so when the organization asked her to add a culturally appropriate place for shade, she jumped at the opportunity. 

“A lot of communities don’t have the budget to work with an architect, so I work on a pro bono project every year,” Ren says. “The cultural society wanted an iconic structure for the neighborhood. The design is inspired by a traditional African hut, featuring a skylight to connect with nature and a hearth to serve as a gathering place and resting area. The hut’s plan is based on the Adinkrahene symbol, which consists of three concentric circles symbolizing charisma, leadership, and greatness.” 

Ren opened her first architecture firm, New Office, with her husband, Steven Karvelius (B.ARCH. ’14), and fellow alumnus Elliott Riggen (B.ARCH. ’16) in 2020. Their first project, a renovation of a Lincoln Park neighborhood condo, won the 2023 AIA Chicago Citation of Merit award. 

The studio merged with another firm, Third Entity, founded by Lynsey Sorrell (M.ARCH. ’02), to become Converge Architecture.  

The African Heritage Hut was Ren’s project, while Sorrell and co-founder Riggen led a renovation of a century-old warehouse on the city’s near West Side that is earning the AIA Chicago’s Design Excellence Award—Medium.  

The awards will be presented at AIA Chicago’s Designight 2025 on September 18. 

Image: A scenic view of Annabell Ren’s project, the African Heritage Hut, located in Chicago’s North Lawndale Historical and Cultural Society garden.