Nearly a century later, and with support from the University of Chicago, the Harper Theater will be re-opening its doors this fall. And the community of Hyde Park is thrilled to have it’s iconic theater back in action!

Originally designed by architect Horatio Wilson, the theater has a subtle prairie school influence, with fine brick work and white terra cotta details. The facility first operated as a Vaudeville house but was later converted to a movie theater in the 1930s. In 2002, the theater shut its doors to the public.

Work has already begun to update the aging building and we are excited to work with Rick Nelson of FUGE AND BES Engineer to play an integral role in the renovation process led by OKWArchitects.

Once renovated, the building will house four screens ranging from a large, first-run theater to more intimately scaled spaces perfect for art house and limited engagement films. Guests will be able to enjoy much more than just a good movie, however; the cinema’s companion cafe boasts full espresso service and light cafe fare. Located in the lobby, the cafe can be enjoyed with or without the pleasure of seeing a movie.

Locally operated and community focused, the Harper Theater will be a great new destination for Hyde Park! We’re working in tandem with some great architects and are excited to be playing an integral role in the renovation process. We just can’t wait for its opening later this fall!! Hope to see you there!

Even if you’re slow to shake off the winter funk, a quick stroll around the block will cure all doubt. Flowers are blooming! But a spring garden isn’t just for the backyard. Today, we highlight some of the vast benefits of maintaining a well-balanced, indoor garden as well!

Having plants around the house can keep your family healthy in ways you may not have expected. By removing harmful airborne contaminants, our green friends can help prevent colds, clear congestion, and even improve sleep. And if you have any kiddos running around, exposing them to some allergins as they grow can ultimately improve their tolerance against allergies.

Moreover, having your favorite herbs/vegetables growing on your windowsill can eliminate trips to the marketplace – cutting down on food miles and car emissions (and expenditures!).

We recommend herbs that don’t grow to wide or tall, like chives, basil, lavender, parsley, mint, rosemary or thyme. Place in a sunny, draft-free area of your home and water sparingly. Snip your plants often to encourage growth and bushiness but be sure to never remove more than 1/3 of the plant’s total foliage.

The best part? An indoor garden can be a design feature! One trick is using multiples of the same plants and pots for a more dramatic effect. Utilizing clusters of colorful pots is another way to add a little pizazz. And most importantly, have fun with it and add your own personal touch!

Have fun greening your family home!

In fact, just last week, Ron and Lisa (and baby Evelyn!) hosted a home tour of their Bissell Street residence for guests of the Chicago Architecture Foundation.

As green architects, our fearless leaders strive to provide professional, eco-friendly design options for private and public builds. But Ron and Lisa don’t just live green around the office. Their home is an impressively energy-efficient haven as well.  And the the Chicago Architecture Foundation decided that it was worth a visit!

As guests toured the residence, they were able to see some great ways in which to green their own homes. From $1.50 faucet filters to furniture options and even rooftop solar panels, Ron and Lisa’s residence offers a wide range of examples of how to live more eco-consciously. And guests loved it!

A big thank you to the Chicago Architecture Foundation! We’re looking forward to the next one!

A green kitchen starts with green eating. Buy local! California-grown tomatoes may taste great in the middle of December, but consider the pollution involved with the packaging and shipping of that produce halfway across the country. Instead, check out the Dill Pickle Food Co-op on Fullerton, or perhaps the Green Grocer in the West Loop or City Provisions in Lincoln Square. Buying local not only reduces food miles, but also supports our local growers and farmers…and tastes a lot better, too! It’s a triple win!

Your cookware and utensils also play a major role in developing your eco-conscious kitchen. Make it last! Buying and re-buying items is frustrating, expensive, and harmful to the environment. So, get rid of Teflon. Say sayonara to plastics. Instead, invest in stainless steel or cast iron cookware that can last you decades. Treat yourself to a set of long-lasting, quality utensils and buy a good set of knives that you can sharpen at home. Remember to use towels whenever possible to avoid unnecessarily wasting paper products.

Appliances. They’re much more energy efficient today than they ever have been before. When selecting a new appliance, take your time in choosing what best suits your needs. The average life span of most kitchen appliances is between twelve to fifteen years, so there’s no need to be hasty! When choosing a new unit, check its Energy Star rating (visit www.energystar.gov for more)! Choose a model with a strong rating that is certain to last. When getting rid of old appliances, be sure to recycle through the Chicago Recycling Coalition. For more details on how to recycle your old appliance, visit www.chicagorecycling.org/appliances.htm.

Local foods, long lasting cookware, smart appliances. By improving your kitchen in just these three areas, you can take major strides in greening one of the most wasteful areas of your home. But there’s always more that you can do! Keep an eye out for future blogs on how to further green your home!

The 91,300 foot facility is located in the Back of the Yards Neighborhood in the Chicago Industrial Stockyards Corridor. The site is extremely efficient, saving Testa up to $185,000 each year in energy costs alone. In fact, Testa saves enough energy in one year to fulfill the equivalent demand of approximately 175 typical American households!

Testa has also installed a wind turbine onsite that stands 238 feet tall. The turbine supplies 750 Kilowatts of power and it’s estimated that the turbine generates roughly 30% of the building’s power needs. The 2 Point team actually spotted the turbine’s blades from atop the Willis Tower not long ago!

Probably our favorite part of the Testa distribution center is the vegetated roof! They have over an acre of vegetative plant material covering their roof, which helps Testa collect, filter, and store rain water runoff to be used in non-potable fashions around the facility. Combined with other efforts, Testa’s roof has helped lead them to reduce their water demand by 40%!

We here at 2 Point were able to get a first-hand look of Testa’s incredible dedication to the environment while helping design their interiors. Using recycled tiles, green guard certified carpets and low VOC paints, we helped Testa meet its eco-conscious goals throughout the facility. It was an exciting project and we are happy to have assisted Testa as they earned LEED Platinum recognition!

So, next time you see that two-tone blue truck bouncing around your neighborhood pause and recognize. That’s a Testa truck. And it’s delivering food produce from one of the most remarkable facilities of its kind from right here in Chicago. We are happy to have played a part!

On the cusp of the new year, 2 Point was joined by its newest member. Incase you missed all the excitement, 2 Point founders, Lisa & Ron Elkins, happily welcomed Miss Evelyn Susanne Elkins into the world on December 29! She weighed seven pounds, thirteen ounces, and has thus far been one very healthy, happy baby girl.

Ron and Lisa have been spending a little more time at home while Evelyn adjusts to life outside the womb. They report that she’s a wide-eyed and curious sleep’aholic that can’t get enough of her blanket nest. And she’s already living the green life, snuggling in with all-natural cloth diapers and enjoying her glass bottle. Isn’t she absolutely adorable?! Standing in for our fearless leaders while they learn the baby rearing ropes has been the amazing Emily Wilbrandt. Hats off to Emily for going above and beyond to keep the office running smoothly and efficiently over the last month!

Speaking of the office, it MOVED. A new team member means a larger office, right?! Evelyn has her demands;) 2 Point Perspective is now headquartered in amazing new Green Exchange building. We’re very excited to be sharing space within a state-of-the-art LEED Platinum building and even more happy to be working next door to so many like-minded, green-oriented businesses!

A new office, a new team/family member. So far, 2012 has been amazing! Over the next eleven months, we plan on doing even more to ensure that in the far off, distant future, those who can still remember will remember 2012 as a milestone for 2 Point Perspective… Unless, of course, our newest team member continues to sleep past lunch;)

We are excited to have completed many projects this year, including FÜL Restaurant, GreenChoice Bank, and Green House Loft, and are even more excited for the new projects that we’re busy planning. 2011 brought us even more smiles when we learned over the summer that an older project, ORA Dental Studio, exceeded our original goals and was awarded LEED Gold Certification. Congratulations to Dr. Thurston and his beautiful studio!

Lisa, Emily, and Ji worked equally as hard this year to grow out their hair and were excited to donate nine inches to Locks For Love in the spring! They’re currently still growing it all back out! 2 Point also participated in Chicago Artist Month 2011 and Lisa spread the eco-friendly word at the Chicago Center for Green Technology, Chicago Architecture Foundation, and the Chicago Art Institute. Believe it or not, we DID find time to sneak out of the office from time to time and had some fun at Six Flags and even took an office trip to play some WhirlyBall!

Scroll over the pictures below for their captions!

As you can see, we had a great year! 2011 was full of fun and accomplishment and we hope that 2012 will bring the same. We’re already looking forward to moving into our new office at the Green Exchange Building and cannot wait to get settled in! Even more exciting, we’re looking forward to meeting our new office helper! Lisa and Ron are expecting the arrival of their baby daughter, Evelyn, in the next few days and we already have a desk waiting for her! 2012 should be exciting, indeed!

2 Point hopes you had a wonderful holiday had we all wish you the very best in 2012. Happy New Year!

And check this out! We came across archived project files today that seemed a little too perfect not to share with you. Red? Green?! Happy Holidays everyone!

-FÜL Restaurant and Green Choice Bank.

Furnishly aims to revolutionize the second-hand furniture market. Think Craigslist, but only furniture…and only furniture you’d be interested in putting in your home. By incorporating geographic search, item segmentation, and social functionality into their platform, they make the sale and purchase of second-hand furniture easy and accessible for all – just enter a zipcode! A local, Chicago-based start-up, Furnishly is currently operational in New York, San Francisco, and Chicago and offers an online marketplace full of everything from college-couch hopefuls to exquisite designer furniture items.

We at 2 Point always say, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,” and  Furnishly makes it even easier to follow that wisdom. Reusing furniture limits the amount of wood and other materials being wasted, and locating desirable second-hand options is made easy with their online, local marketplace. It’ll keep your wallet girthy, your home furnished, and the environment sustained. Give them a visit!

For more information, visit www.furnishly.com.