Northwestern University is barring architecture firms who protested the demolition of the Prentice Women's Hospital from work on some Northwestern projects.

In the wake of the controversial demolition of Bertrand Goldberg’s Prentice Women’s Hospital, Northwestern University has moved forward with the process for selecting an architecture firm to design the building's replacement. Firms that protested the demolition, however, have been excluded from consideration for designing the building's replacement—and may be blacklisted from other projects at Northwestern.

Some 80 architects, including top designers such as Jeanne Gang, FAIA, and Frank Gehry, FAIA, signed a September 2012 petition urging Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to consider the case for designating the 1975 building as a historic landmark. As a result, none of those architects are being considered in the competition to design the new Biomedical Research Building.

"Certainly we look for architects who have worked with the university, and who are interested in the university's endeavors," says Bonnie Humphrey, director of design and construction for Northwestern's facilities management department. "There were architects who signed that petition, and we never wanted to put them in an awkward position. We didn't want to ask them to submit their qualifications."

One architect who signed the petition, which was circulated by the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois, says the consequences for political advocacy go even further. "We are currently and have in the past done work for Northwestern," says the architect, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "We found out we've been blackballed for two years."