AAP Unveils New Headquarters in Illinois

By Roxanne Squires

ITASCA, Ill. — The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently opened the doors to its new headquarters facility, offering a space that helps enable health professionals to come together to share the latest enhancements in pediatric health.

AAP’s new headquarters strays away from what people envision as a “typical” office building.

Working on a tight budget, the project architect, Stantec, and construction manager, The Opus Group, designed the facility to be sophisticated and unique, yet playful — ultimately delivering a cost-conscious, built-to-suit office building for all of AAP’s members and employees.

The new five-story, 183,000-square-foot office building features a reflective roof, extensive daylighting, and a colorful, light-filled design with transparent fins radiating from each façade. In addition to work space for the Academy’s 455 professional staff, the building includes an expansive conference center to host meetings for the Academy’s physician members.

The office overall functions as a facility that is able to support the AAP’s growth and its members’ evolving needs.

The building’s 81 meeting rooms reflect the need for collaboration in all areas of the Academy’s work, offering state-of-the-art audiovisual and connectivity technology to enable physicians to participate no matter where they are located. The building includes a member’s lounge, fully equipped lactation room for nursing mothers, fitness center, video studio and focus group space, outdoor meeting area, cafeteria and catering facility, and two-story atrium lobby.

The new building represents the AAP’s commitment to a healthier world for children and was designed with a reduced carbon foot print to ensure sustainability.

Environmentally friendly features of the building include the reflective roof, LED lighting, a high-efficiency HVAC system, and native plantings and bioswales.

“Our vision for this project has always been quite simple: to create a place that enables our child health mission,” said AAP CEO and Executive Vice President Karen Remley, M.D., M.B.A., M.P.H., FAAP. “This new headquarters is designed to support the work of our staff and our 66,000 members at the highest level. Our new headquarters is more than just an office building. It is designed to be the new home for the profession of pediatrics and through state-of-the-art surroundings and communications. It is where we can pursue the AAP’s mission together.”