Averill is a six-person architecture studio in Chicago. We rebuild row houses, convert old warehouses, and design new buildings that respect the ones next door — from first survey to certificate of occupancy.
Four projects that show the range — two rebuilds, a conversion, a new retreat. Sixty more live in the flat files; ask and we will pull the drawings.
Lincoln Park · Rebuilt 2024
An 1889 brick row house taken down to its party walls and rebuilt for a family of five — new steel frame, a stair that borrows light from the roof, the original facade cleaned and kept.
Fulton Market · 2023
A 1923 candy warehouse converted into six condominium lofts. The heavy-timber columns stayed exposed; everything mechanical is new.
Vilas County, WI · 2022
A 1972 A-frame rebuilt as a year-round retreat — re-insulated, re-glazed, and warmed by one masonry stove.
Wicker Park · 2021
A classic Chicago two-flat re-planned as a single-family home, with the rental unit kept intact on the garden level to pay the mortgage.
Before we talk finishes, we measure. The existing building gets a laser survey; the new plan is drawn over it at quarter-inch scale. That drawing — not a mood board — is what we review with you, price with builders, and file with the city.
Below: sheet A2.1 from the Keeler Row House permit set, redrawn for the web.
Read how we workFour phases, each with a fixed deliverable and a named fee. You always know which line is being drawn.
Laser survey, zoning read, and a budget range you can take to a lender. Ends in a go / no-go memo.
Plans, sections, and one physical model. Two revision rounds are in the fee; most projects use both.
Stamped drawings filed with the city and priced by two builders we trust — the same set, no gaps.
A site walk every week, a field report every Friday, and sign-off held until the punch list is done.
Averill is led by principal Mara Averill and a team of five — architects, an interior designer, and a permit runner who knows every desk at the Department of Buildings.
We work out of a former tannery on Hubbard Street and take on about twelve projects a year. Small on purpose: the person who draws your plan is the one who answers your call.
“Averill measured the house twice before they would talk drawings — and the drawings were right the first time. We closed permits in nine weeks. Our contractor still doesn’t believe it.”
Tell us the address, what the building is today, and what it should become. We reply within two business days — usually with a first zoning read of your lot attached.