Page 17 - College Planning & Management, June 2018
P. 17
RENDERINGS COURTESY OF JEANNE GANG AND STUDIO GANG ARCHITECTS
BELOIT COLLEGE POWERHOUSE
JUNE 2018 / COLLEGE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT 17
RECYCLED FACILITIES
Creative adaptive reuse and retrofit projects are resulting in unique spaces for student living and learning.
BY SCOTT BERMAN
Moribund power plants, abandoned shopping malls, even ship- ping containers and a coal bin: all are examples of adaptive reuse and related projects unfolding now and in recent years on
campuses across the nation.
These examples are among those that show adaptive reuse can
provide imaginative, distinctive, and strategic options for colleges and universities.
POWERING INTO A NEW PURPOSE
Take for example Beloit College in Wisconsin, which is now transforming a moribund century-old structure, a 120,000-square- foot coal-burning power plant, into an important campus building called the Powerhouse, envisioned as a campus center teeming with activities.
Extensive decommissioning work reportedly was underway early in 2018. Beloit stepped in to start work in February, with interiors and constructing an adjacent river walk among the steps on the docket. The building is revealed as ample and
