The Haven

Transforming a Former Motel into Welcoming Transitional Housing

Location
Chicago, IL

Suppliers

Architect
Gensler

Installer
American Igloo Builders

Overview

Haven on Lincoln transforms the former Diplomat Motel in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood into a dignified, non-congregate transitional housing environment for individuals experiencing homelessness. Designed by Gensler through a trauma-informed lens, the project reimagines an aging motel site as a place of privacy, stability, healing, and connection.

The redevelopment provides private rooms, supportive services, calming shared spaces, and access to outdoor areas designed to support resident well-being. With healing gardens, raised planting beds, shaded gathering spaces, and a public-facing mural, Haven on Lincoln brings new life to the Lincoln Avenue corridor while creating a more welcoming and resilient model for short-term housing.

A key part of the project’s exterior identity is its high-performance rainscreen façade. Petrarch and Steni panels were selected to help balance durability, design flexibility, and long-term performance while supporting the project’s warm, residential feel.

Challenge

Haven on Lincoln required exterior materials that could meet the realities of a high-use public-facing environment without creating an institutional appearance. The façade needed to be durable, impact resistant, weather resistant, and easy to maintain, while still contributing to a design that felt calm, grounded, and welcoming.

The project also included a mural application, which introduced another layer of complexity. The selected substrate needed to provide a smooth, consistent surface for the artist while maintaining the long-term performance expectations of a modern rainscreen system. Many façade materials are not designed to support post-painting applications due to concerns around adhesion, efflorescence, or future material failure.

Solution

Blue Line Building Products supplied Petrarch and Steni rainscreen panels for key areas of the building envelope, helping the design team achieve a balance of architectural warmth, resilience, and performance.

Petrarch panels were used across column wraps, fascia, soffits, and wall areas to create a refined stone façade with the durability required for a commercial exterior. The material’s texture and color support the project’s trauma-informed design goals by bringing a natural, grounded quality to the building while still meeting the performance needs of an urban housing environment.

For the mural area, Steni panels provided the ideal substrate. The panels created a uniform surface for the artist while offering the strength, large-format flexibility, and long-term durability needed for an exterior rainscreen application. Steni’s composite stone construction helped make the mural possible without compromising the building envelope’s performance.

Together, the two systems allowed the façade to serve multiple roles: protect the building, support the project’s visual identity, and contribute to a more human-centered environment for residents and the surrounding community.

Outcome & Impact

Haven on Lincoln shows how thoughtful product selection can support both performance and purpose. The finished façade helps transform a former motel into a welcoming, resilient housing environment designed around dignity, privacy, and care.

With Petrarch and Steni rainscreen panels, the project delivers a durable exterior system that supports the architectural vision, enhances the public realm, and helps create a place that feels less like an institution and more like home.