The Architect’s Newspaper names Legat the Midwest’s top large architecture firm in 2025 Best of Practice Awards honoring outstanding design, workplace culture, and community impact.
An architect gets the green light to design what will become one of the largest schools of its kind in the Midwest. The temptation would be to design something glamorous … a dazzling structure destined for architecture magazine covers.
And yet, when the opportunity came to design a new 150,000-square-foot school in Chicago’s southwest edge, Legat Architects took a different route — while there is a time and place for showstopping design, this was not one of them.
The firm recognized that the conventional modern school would not be a good fit for A.E.R.O. Special Education Cooperative’s special needs students. Thus began a three-month research process to understand and respond to the range of cognitive, physical, behavioral, and emotional challenges that these students face.
Everything within the new A.E.R.O. Therapeutic Center is designed not to garner attention but rather to help neurodiverse students and their teachers thrive. The facility, which A.E.R.O. Executive Director Dr. Bill Roseland called “a center of hope for students and families,” offers a safe, nursing environment for special education students from 11 Chicago-area school districts.
The A.E.R.O. story exemplifies why The Architect’s Newspaper has named Legat the Midwest’s top large architecture firm in its 2025 Best of Practice Awards. The award celebrates firms that blend innovative design with strong internal culture and positive community impact. Judges include design industry educators, practitioners, and journalists from throughout the U.S.
“[Legat] shared projects not because they were the flashiest, but because they meant something to the community,” said juror Enrica Oliva of the Pratt Institute School of Architecture. “It shows how they made a difference there.”
Legat President and CEO Jeff Sandberg said, “The new generation of leadership at Legat has embraced the intersection of design, workplace experience, and social impact. We are grateful to The Architect’s Newspaper for recognizing our efforts with this honor as well as to everyone at Legat who contributed to this collective achievement by sharing their voices and skills.”
Design With a Difference
The best idea can come from anyone. This principle, along with a firm belief in a collaborative design process, propels Legat’s mission to “design with a difference to make a difference.”
“We achieve design rigor by uncovering the forces that shape user experience, layering those factors, and working together to refine ideas through sketch after sketch,” said Evan Menk, director of design at Legat. “Eventually, the right solution emerges and creates spaces that make people feel different.”
Some of the firm’s most recent design achievements include the following:
- A master plan that revitalizes the campus of a global spiritual organization
- A retrofit that transforms a church into a nature-inspired preschool
- A new community center that creates a recreational, social, and spiritual anchor for Chicago’s Muslim community
- An agriculture complex slated to become Illinois’ first net zero certified community college facility
Workplace Culture: Wellness, Growth, Sustainability
While each of Legat’s six Midwestern studios has a unique vibe, inherent to the firm’s culture are the shared values that the best idea can come from anyone and everyone has a voice.
Nearly 60% of the firm’s employees are women, and both the Illinois and Iowa chapters of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) endorsed Legat as an EP Friendly Firm. The designation identifies organizations that offer outstanding support for students, recent graduates, and early-career professionals. To qualify, firms must demonstrate excellence in areas such as compensation, benefits, licensure assistance, and career growth.
Legat also earned the Just label from the International Living Future Institute. This voluntary measuring tool helps improve policies for creating equitable and rewarding work environments and supporting our communities.
Another value that guides Legat’s practice is sustainability. More than 40% of its architectural staff have a professional sustainable accreditation, and it has developed a sustainable action plan as well as a learning tool for clients. As a seven-year signatory to the AIA 2030 Commitment (aims for net-zero carbon buildings by 2030), Legat embraces energy modeling and reports to AIA’s Design Data Exchange (DDx) to track progress toward that goal.
Community Impact: Public Outreach, Industry Support
In 2010, construction finished on the Legat-designed Mariano Azuela Elementary School on Chicago’s South Side. That same year, Legat project manager Tom Kikta launched the Azuela Architecture Club for the school, which serves a 99% minority and 80% low-income student population. Fifteen years later, Kikta and coworkers continue to lead the popular after-school program.
The club demonstrates another key part of Legat’s culture: giving back to the public and design communities. This value also aligns with the Best of Practice benchmark of “how a firm engages with its community to envision and enact a better world.”
Recent community initiatives beyond the Azuela Architecture Club include the following:
- Sorted plastics at Redemptive Plastics in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood to create “functional art” like benches and tables for the community.
- Stuffed 500 backpacks at Kennedy-King College’s Blessings in a Backpack event to benefit children who lack access to healthy foods on weekends
- Packed food at Greater Chicago Food Depository warehouses for those in need
- Decorated holiday trees for kids at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago
Legat also regularly contributes to design industry programs such as the following:
- Participated in The Columbus (Ohio) Center for Architecture and Design’s Orange Line holiday window exhibit
- Joined Habitat Chicago’s Women Build event to help build affordable homes for women-led families
- Hosted the American Institute of Architects Chicago chapter AIA Chicago Bridge event that pairs AIA Fellows with emerging professionals
- Welcomed aspiring interior designers as part of the IIDA (International Interior Design Association) Illinois Student Studio Series
- Hosted IIDA Illinois’ inaugural Afterglow event that brings the creative energy of Chicago’s NeoCon to the suburbs
The Design of Trust
The first project that Legat did for Galesburg Community Unit School District #205 was anything but glamorous: the 10-Year Health/Life Safety Report update ensured compliance with Illinois School Code.
Seven years later, the district and Legat have partnered on more than 45 projects totaling over $50 million in construction. Some of these projects — a wall restoration or parking lot paving, for instance — were more functional than inspiring. Others, such as Bright Futures Preschool and Galesburg Junior Senior High School additions/renovations, went on to receive accolades for their influential design.
Legat’s history with the Galesburg district is a distillation of the firm’s approach to architecture: it’s not about making a statement — it’s about making a difference for clients.
“The Legat team is more than just architects,” wrote Galesburg CUSD #205 Superintendent Dr. John Asplund and Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Hamm. “They are trusted partners who listen, collaborate, and truly invest in the success of every project. They have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to our vision, ensuring that our schools reflect the highest standards of design, sustainability, and functionality.”
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