The Headquarters for the Waterkeeper Alliance, a grassroots advocacy organization dedicated to the environmental preservation of waterways, is proposed to be located in either Chicago, Cincinnati, or New York. The Chicago site is located at the lock and dam connecting Lake Michigan with the Chicago River. The program calls for something that would not only reach out to the public
philosophically, but also physically, connecting the site to the downtown and the Navy Pier.

There was an analysis of the program, which determined three types of users: staff and researchers, which is located in the red, programmed rigid spaces; the public, which moves through the building via the green single surface that wraps the building, connecting the city to the pier; and the VIP, likely Oprah or Obama, which uses the building for speaking engagements, as well as a quick blue connection via helipad linked to the city of Chicago.  The building is built atop the Chicago Police Marine Safety station, which is redesigned to be integrated in the form of the structure, creating voids which exhibitions flow through.