The building was 100 years old in 2005.  We bought it in 1996 and although we loved the community and the building, we never imagined having two children here. After baby number 2 came along in 2005, we started looking for a bigger place to house our family and also to house Brian’s photo studio. With two children and our own businesses, it became increasingly important for us to be able to bring together life and work.  We choose to live an urban life-- walking, biking, and using public transportation for our major needs.  We maintain a car which we share and often use an iGo car when we need a second car for a business trip to the suburbs. Our children go to school, play, participate in YMCA and Park District programs locally. We love and are very much engaged in our life in the City of Chicago.

This interest in living holistically with life, work, environment and city is what led us to the idea that our home and our life should become as logical and as low impact upon our world as possible. We are not the “greenest” people on earth.  We use disposable diapers, drive a car, eat meat and we occasionally tune into Desperate Housewives. Our gravitation toward “green” has come as a result of our interest in

living logically, preserving the future for our children and feeling proud about doing what we can to live conscientiously. We’ll use the word “engaged” a lot here because that’s what we think drives the whole project. We are engaged in the process of asking what we can do to live better. We did not hire a “green” architect but we hired an architect who is completely engaged in the challenge of creating a place to live and work which makes sense to our life, our city, our environment and our tastes. This is who we are:

lisa wright • homeowner

In addition to having a successful, award-winning graphic design business, Red Bird Visual, Lisa Wright is the full time mother of two children and wife to Brian.  Her children are both a motivation to create a functional work at home environment and a life in harmony with the environment. She was born in Chicago, has lived here most of her life, and wants to provide her children with the opportunities which can only come with living life in the city.

brian warling • homeowner

A photographer of children, Brian Warling is the owner of Warling Studios, father of two children and husband to Lisa.  He will be moving his staff of four from a large commercial photo studio west of the loop into the newly remodeled urban green project space in 2008. He has lived and worked in Chicago for 20 years, held a leadership role in the commercial photography community and shoots photography of children for a long list of corporate and agency clients across America and throughout the world. Brian is advocate for all things green on this project and is constantly asking the question “how could we do this better” and often, “how could we do this cheaper” and always “how can we do this faster?” 

john joyce • architect

Originally from Mexico, Joyce was raised in the Chicago area save for a brief stint in San Francisco. Always drawn to architecture because of its complex interweaving of science and the arts Joyce received a Bachelor of Art + Architecture History and a Masters of Architecture from the University of Illinois at Chicago and during his studies he attended Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands.

Embracing the challenge of adapting to clients, programs and site, he enjoys the study and investigation of many other fields required to adapt to each architectural challenge. It’s this diversity of challenge that engages Joyce and his firm.

“This project is particularly appealing as it’s an exciting mix of old and new—respectful of the existing historic structure while adding a contemporary touch that will produce a perfect example of the possibilities of creating a work/live environment that is mindful of environmental issues. This project also illustrates fundamental and cost-effective technologies and practices that anyone can employ to lessen their impact on our natural resources,” enthuses Joyce.

He currently resides in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood with his wife, Aracely and newborn son, Joaquin.