Chicago Design Office expands social equity, sustainability, and contemporary aesthetics through the built environment. Founded by architect Aneesha Dharwadker, the practice balances warm, unique design vision with technical expertise, clear communication, rigorous project management, and a persistent effort to reimagine space for domestic and working life.
Projects include residential and commercial renovations at multiple scales, with an emphasis on creative and seamless adaptive reuse.
Projects
Connecting a 19th-century two-flat for an expanding family. Chicago IL, Ongoing.
Local Eclectic Flagship Boutique
Adapting a landmarked townhome for retail and office use. Chicago IL, Ongoing.
Lakeview Residence
Establishing a hidden connection between separate units in an industrial two-flat. Chicago IL, Ongoing.
Uptown Residence
Extending a single-family home in the Dover Street Historic District. Chicago IL, Ongoing.
Tati’s Floral
Envisioning a multi-purpose flower shop in Auburn Gresham. Chicago IL, Ongoing.
H3 Offices and Community Center
Providing a one-stop shop for re-entry and social services. Champaign IL, Ongoing.
Two-Tone House
Sequencing color and and two-tone accents through an open floor plan, merging mid-century and South Asian art and design. Chicago IL, 2025.
Elite Wellness Yoga Studio and Landscape
Expanding a Chicagoland wellness center to connect to the outdoors. Northfield IL, 2025.
Rehabilitating an arts & crafts exterior in historic Olmsted territory. Riverside IL, 2025.
Men Making a Difference Mixed Use Development
Transforming an old candy store to a mixed-use community asset in North Lawndale. Chicago IL, 2025.
Permanent Buildings, Fluid History: An Account of a Diasporic Practice in America
Analyzing imperialism in architecture education and practice, and highlighting decolonial design practices in the US. Published in Margin and Text: Amplifying Diverse Voices in Architecture (Princeton Architectural Press), 2024.
Kitchens for Two Sisters
Supporting multi-generational family expansion with a conversion Accessory Dwelling Unit, including two new kitchens and a primary bath. Chicago IL, 2024.
Converting a postmodern office building into a contemporary, welcoming home for Elite Wellness North Shore. Northfield IL, 2024.
West Town Dining Room and Patio
Opening a residential dining room to a new bluestone patio and rear yard. Chicago IL, 2024.
Belmont Gardens Residence
Updating a classic bungalow for a young family. Chicago IL, 2024.
Bathrooms for Two Professors
Restyling dated bathrooms in a 1980s Wisconsin home. Madison WI, 2024.
Zero-Waste Porch
Recycling 100% of demolished material for an exterior residential porch and façade refurbishment. Chicago IL, 2023.
The Imagination Station: Adaptive Practice (in Practice) in Chicago
Evaluating the impact of small-scale design interventions, and architecture as a generalists’ practice, in North Lawndale. Published in Telesis Vol. 5 (University of Oklahoma Gibbs School of Architecture), 2023.
The Imagination Station
Constructing a micro-library supporting academic and cultural literacy for all ages in North Lawndale, Chicago. Exhibited at the first annual Chicago Sukkah Design Festival, 2022. Co-winner of the Roberta Feldman Architecture for Social Justice Award, AIA Chicago, 2024.
Middle House on the Prairie
Infilling vacant lots with affordable two-flats to tackle the “missing middle” housing crisis. Chicago IL, 2023.
Dystopia’s Ghost
Critiquing historic demolition, new urban design, and architecture’s relationship to political power in New Delhi’s government district. Published in Places, 2022.
Field Notes on Design Activism: 1
Weighing the ethical and economic obligations of architects in the context of prison design and construction. Published in Places, 2022.
Design for Covid-19
Rethinking American campus design for present and future pandemic conditions. Published in The Plan Journal, 2022.
Dublin Cultural Center
Reinterpreting Dublin’s historic facades and Ireland’s colonial history for contemporary cultural programming. Dublin IE, 2021.
Park 416
Integrating architecture and landscape for holistic memorial design near the Sewol Ferry disaster site. Ansan KR, 2021.
Venice Methadone Clinic
Translating ambiguity and fear into hope and safety through architectural materials for an addiction recovery clinic. Venice CA, 2021.
Continuum
Memorializing human technology over thousands of years in a contemporary park proposal. San Jose CA, 2021.
Crossing the Skyline: Exhibition
Modeling a large-scale urban intervention at 1/2” = 1’ to create a pop-up library for political texts written in prison. School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago IL, 2019.
Crossing the Skyline
Bridging a federal prison and a public library to create unexpected hybrid urban space. Chicago IL, 2018. Second Place, Chicago Architectural Club Chicago Prize Competition, 2019.
Two-Plex
Merging the two-flat and duplex typologies into a new urban housing prototype. Chicago IL, 2019.
FirstFollowers Community Center
Collaborating with Champaign-based non-profit FirstFollowers to renovate a donated residence into a teen-focused community center, computer lab, and garden. Champaign IL, 2019.
Native Citizenship
Articulating modes of American citizenship through the Dakota Access Pipeline protests at Standing Rock Reservation, North Dakota. Included in Form N-X00: New Forms for Citizenship, U.S. Pavilion, Venice Architecture Biennale, 2018.
Mangrove Metropolis
Reesablishing mangrove ecologies at the Worli Koliwada fishing village. Mumbai IN, 2018.
JustLikeNew Smartphone Repair Shop
Tucking a sleek phone repair and retail space into an existing commercial shell. Hyderabad IN, 2017.
