Avery Dennison Helps Transform Student Space

school window graphics

With the support of City Year Chicago, the school turned to several high profile community partners, including Avery Dennison, for help in transforming the "fish bowl" into a creative new area where the freshmen would be comfortable. 

City Year Chicago is an organization whose members provide services to Chicago's most underprivileged youth. They acquired the services of Gensler, a global architecture firm, to design the space. Then, through visioning exercises, the students created collages of images, words and colors to guide Gensler in creating the new design. 

The new plan for the “fish bowl” separates the space into a teaching zone, library and VIP lounge. It allows for individual or group study and tutoring, as well as providing a “play” area with chess boards and re-configurable furniture. Steve Gary from Avery Dennison Graphics and Reflective Solutions was involved from the planning stage right through to implementation. 

Two colorful murals and a map of downtown Chicago were printed on Avery Dennison MPI 1060 Gloss Transparent film and Etchmark, a gloss metallic translucent film. The murals help to localize the space and also serve as a barrier, preventing students on the outside from looking in or influencing the behavior of those inside. Signature Graphics, Inc. donated the printing of the Avery Dennison products for the wall murals and installation time. 

“This project was a great collaboration between several companies,” said Steve Gary. “Everyone involved with the project was thrilled with the way it turned out and Avery Dennison was proud to be a part of it.”