Chocolate Factory for Vosge-Haut Chocolat
Chicago, Illinois
Third Year Studio Project
Chicago, Illinois
Third Year Studio Project
Vosges-Haut Chocolat, founded in 1998 by Katrina Karkoff in her Logan Square Home remains a private company that is now a nationally certified WBE (Woman Business Enterprise). Vosge Maintains it's headquarters in Chicago and operates chocolate boutiques in Chicago, New York City and Las Vegas. What began as a small business in the kitchen of a Chicago home is now growing through retail outlets, business to business and direct sales channels.
The Projects Goals are:
Design a Factory
Create a Tourist Attraction
Collaborate With Local Artists and Growers
The Projects Goals are:
Design a Factory
Create a Tourist Attraction
Collaborate With Local Artists and Growers
Site Pictures
The site lays North of Division Street, West of Kingsbury and east of the Chicago River. The site was originally used as a parking lot, which now makes it a brownfield site.
The sites dimensions are extremely large yet narrow which makes the site ideal for a factory that utilizes assembly line technology.
The sites dimensions are extremely large yet narrow which makes the site ideal for a factory that utilizes assembly line technology.
Site Plan
The buildings form is derived from a broken candy bar. The building is divided into two halves; the factory and the administrative offices, tour center and retail shop. The two completely different program typologies are part of a whole. The bridges that connect the two halves are depictive of stretched caramel, nouget and peanuts, the inside workings of a candy bar, or in this case, the circulation linking the two buildings.
Program to Site Diagram Showing Process of Creating Voids in a Solid Form
Interior Renderings of Production Floor and Tour Route
The Factory Tour, which is a big part of the projects goals, takes guests on a journey through the assembly floor, cooking areas, green house and other highlights before the tour ends on the factory's green roof garden so guests can see where the fresh ingredients are coming from. During tours, employees can continue working in a safe and sanitary manner while factory guests look on from an enclosed walkway. The enclosed glass walkway passes the assembly space between floors giving visitors a birds eye view of the production floor while allowing them to feel like they are part of the chocolate making process.
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Longitudinal Section
Northwest Elevation
Green House Interior Rendering
The facility is designed to allow growing of ingredients in-house, year round. The factory also has spaces that promote wellness for employees, community connections with the neighborhood and a major tourist attraction. The green house allows ingredients to be grown year round, and the space can also be used for community gardening programs if space allows.
Typical ingredients for Vosges include bacon, curry, wasabi, chiles and green tea, all of which taste best when added fresh to the chocolate. Please note this factory does not accommodate slaugtering animals for ingredient purposes.
Typical ingredients for Vosges include bacon, curry, wasabi, chiles and green tea, all of which taste best when added fresh to the chocolate. Please note this factory does not accommodate slaugtering animals for ingredient purposes.
Greenhouse Section
Model Picture Showing Green Roof and Bridges
