our clients and becoming their trusted advisor is of the
utmost importance to us,” added Whitehurst.
Today, the firm has grown to three offices across
Illinois: one in downtown Chicago, one in a suburb
of Chicago called Fox River Grove, and the third in
Champaign, near the University of Illinois. Over
the past year, the firm took on the employees of an
engineering firm they had collaborated with for many
years, creating their Fox River Grove office. In doing
so, they added mechanical, electrical, plumbing,
and fire-protection engineering to their services.
The expanded offerings have helped the firm round
out the considerable work they’ve been doing with
community, education, and government clients for
projects in the following sectors: commercial, faith
environments, healthcare, higher education, interior
design, justice, k-12 education, military, historic
preservation, research, and sustainability. Along the
way, the firm gained the auxiliary skills of navigating
the trappings of working with landmarks and
National-Register historic sites, while still improving
the quality and sustainability of the buildings.
“Historic preservation is really trying to save those
original materials by understanding how they were
originally installed and to repair them in a way that
doesn’t cause harm to the original materials,” said
Whitehurst. “That’s really all sustainability; we
see existing and historic buildings as a renewable
resource. Through our preservation work, we
understand how to repair the systems and materials
in a way that is not only environmentally friendly, but
also helps them to become durable, which is another
important aspect of sustainability.”
A view of the modeled sanctuary and chancel at First United Methodist
Church Chicago Temple. Photo courtesy of Bailey Edward.
One of the most unique churches Bailey Edward
has worked with is located in a high-rise building
designing a folding glass wall to separate the narthex from
in downtown Chicago. First United Methodist Church
the worship space. At Christmas and Easter, when the church
Chicago Temple inhabits the first four floors of a building
needs to increase seating, they open up the glass partition
constructed in 1924. Bailey Edward has worked with the
and add chairs.
church on two projects. The first was to renovate the existing
fellowship space, Pearce Hall, located in the basement,
To make the church even more multi-use, the chancel was
for use by church ministries and a professional theater
reconstructed to be all one level and the liturgical furniture
company, the Silk Road Theater project. The renovation,
was placed on wheels as well, so when the church hosts the
completed in 2006, features a multi-purpose room that
annual Chicago Humanities Festival, the furniture can be
has been designed for uses ranging from a dining area, to
easily moved to accommodate dancing, screening movies,
concert venue, to a venue for plays.
and concerts. In addition, new energy-efficient lamps were
installed in the restored historic light fixtures, along with
The second project was to restore and remodel the church’s
new audio and video systems. Whitehurst comments, “This
sanctuary space, while providing more space for fellowship
is a beautiful Neo-Gothic worship space that can seat 900,
before and after services. The existing narthex space doubled
right in the heart of downtown Chicago. We have largely
as a corridor for the high-rise office building above. In
preserved the original appearance, while increasing the
addition, the existing lighting, audio, and video systems
flexibility and energy efficiency of the space.”
were antiquated. Bailey Edward created a new narthex space
underneath the existing balcony by eliminating pews and
Sacred Places • Summer 2014 • 18