Aggregate Studio Logo with Aggregate letters in a 9 square grid and lines connecting the letterforms

Non-Profit Clients and Community Land Trusts

Aggregate Studio specializes in working with Non-Profit Organizations and Community Land Trusts to provide dignified housing and mission-centered architecture. Our engaged design process focuses on empathy, mutual respect, collaboration, and dedication to your organization’s mission – we work as a design partner and guide to deliver projects with an experienced understanding of regulatory policy and funding complexities so that community investment strengthens neighborhood trust and delivers high-impact affordable housing and civic spaces.

We combine deep technical capability with empathy – we’re experienced with zoning, feasibility, and full-service architectural delivery so that our clients can be confident in our execution. We listen carefully and know how to act on what we hear – using our knowledge, experience in effective budget management/providing dignified architecture for non-profit budgets, and looking at projects through an aspirational lens. Our grounded technical knowledge, combined with our culture of curiosity, keeps creative exploration viable and actionable when facing the complex, systemic challenges of affordable housing and civic work.

As a design partner, we bring many voices together, aggregating ideas, perspectives, and community into a unified design that uplifts people and places in the context of housing equity, community resilience, and civic benefit. With our experience working with non-profits and community land trusts, our lived experience in substandard housing, and our principal-led project delivery, Aggregate Studio is uniquely positioned to be a design partner on meaningful, community-centered projects.

Ready to Work with Us? Send Josh an Email

“Josh and Aggregate helped us stay true to our mission. They got it.”

Jason Estremera | Executive Director, Northwestside Community Development Corporation

Our Non-Profit Clients Include

"Aggregate's engagement has helped build Here to Stay's reputation as a provider of well designed, high quality homes. They've been a trusted partner who supports our mission and shares our values in creating permanently affordable housing for those deeply rooted in the communities we serve."

Kristin Horne | Executive Director, Here to Stay Community Land Trust

Projects with Non-Profits

Workers Cottage Renovation
Community Land Trust Coach House
Multigenerational Two-Flat Renovation
Flex Flat Missing Middle Housing
San Miguel Apartments Renovation
Chicago Housing 8 Flat

What We Bring to a Project

We act as a design partner and guide, keeping your organization’s mission at the top of mind during the design process. We design housing and civic spaces that solve our clients’ challenges and support thriving communities that facilitate a sense of home. Aggregate’s design process is rooted in listening and engagement, driven by the belief that understanding what people need is only half the work; knowing how to deliver it is the other.

We are an Approved Architect for Chicago’s Neighborhood Opportunity Fund (NOF). The NOF provides capital development grants up to $250,000 for small business and cultural projects located along Chicago’s West, Southwest, and South Side commercial corridors. 

As a mission-aligned design partner, we’re able to provide full architectural services – initial programming, feasibility studies, design and construction documents, and construction administration. We’re also experienced owner’s reps, helping guide non-profits through capital projects by being proactive, keeping the owner’s mission in mind, and utilizing our architectural expertise to keep projects moving forward.

We are engaged with local government and organizations helping advocate for better conditions in the built environment and housing. Josh serves on the AIA Chicago / Chicago Department of Buildings’ Working Group and we are active members with the Illinois Housing Council, Urban Land Institute, and Abundant Housing Illinois.

We are experienced with many regulatory requirements for housing and civic projects – LIHTC and TIF funding (at previous firms), working with government entities such as Chicago Department of Housing, Chicago Department of Planning and Development, and HUD, and their requirements depending on the funding sources. We understand government review processes, and are experienced with guiding projects through the permitting process.

Aggregate is proud to be a signatory of AIA’s 2030 Commitment working to reduce emissions in our work to help alleviate the ongoing climate crisis. As such we always search for ways to help save energy costs, reduce harmful materials, and work to create environmentally friendly housing and civic projects. We are experienced with projects seeking LEED, Enterprise Green Communities, and NGBS certifications.

Aggregate Studio combines deep technical capability with empathy – we’re experienced in zoning, feasibility, and full-service architectural delivery so that our clients can be confident in our execution.