Kennedy Home Builders

South Barrington, IL

12,000 S.F.

Located in the South Barrington Executive Center, this building was designed to serve as Kennedy Home Builders’ company headquarters as well as a showroom for their clients. A challenge the project presented was the client’s desire to mimic a high-end residential project while still technically remaining a commercial office building. This was accomplished by using mostly residential building materials and construction methods. For instance, the wall framing is 2×6 studs at 16 inches on center and the roof framing is pre-engineered wood trusses at 24 inches on center. Both of those assemblies are then sheathed with oriented strand board (O.S.B.). Additional layers of gypsum board were applied, where necessary, to meet the stricter fire-rated assembly requirements of commercial construction.

The exterior wall veneer is comprised of two different, complementary bricks. Two continuous soldier courses, located at the sill and head heights of the punched, vinyl-clad casement window openings break the walls up vertically into three sections. The windows rest on precast concrete sill stones whose lighter color provide a contrasting accent. The grand hip roof rises twenty-one and a half feet above the eaves thanks to a 7:12 pitch. It is clad with heavy-duty, asphalt shingles whose wood shake appearance, again, add to the residential look and feel of the building. Two faux chimneys, built of exterior insulation finishing system (E.I.F.S.), sculpted and colored to resemble the walls’ face brick, anchor each end of the roof and provide balance to all four of the building’s elevations.