Located within the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, the Gunners’ Mates School was among the earliest work by William Priestley and Bruce Graham. For Graham, the steel and glass Gunners’ Mates School conceptually preceded other formally innovative structures including Chicago’s Inland Steel Building, John Hancock Center, Sears Tower, and McCormick Place.
Long span overhead trusses divide the building into three distinct spaces, creating column-free areas that are among the earliest realizations of Mies van der Rohe’s conception of universal space: the principle that well-designed, open-span spaces can adapt to a multitude of functions over time. Applying this Miesian concept led to a spacious interior, well-suited to the massive equipment and open layout required for realistic instruction on naval guns.
The Gunners’ Mates School incorporates a series of free-standing military structures inside a green glass shell. The glass curtain wall fills the space with natural light, while the translucent finish obscures interior activities from outside observers. The space contained classrooms, demonstration facilities, and full-scale mock-ups of naval gun decks to facilitate hands-on training. Raised balconies and circulation ramps provided platforms from which to observe training. The Gunners’ Mates School building ultimately became the model for a universe of large-scale applications including modern convention centers, schools, art museums, and other structures requiring large open spans.
Presently closed and threatened by demolition, the Gunners’ Mates School is the object of a major preservationist effort by local and national organizations including Landmarks Illinois, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Illinois State Historic Preservation Office, Mies van der Rohe Society, and others.
The goal to preserve and reuse this architectural milestone was supported by the pro bono work of SOM designers who provided a conceptual plan to enable the conversion of the building into a dining and club facility. The proposed program included an interior curtain wall that would enable the building to exceed modern thermal standards while maintaining the structure’s historic integrity. The cost of the SOM proposal came within 10% of the projected cost of demolition and new construction, testifying to the enduring validity of the building’s “universal space.”
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