Looking Ahead at Adaptive Reuse: Designing for the Gain Factor

Now that the commercial sector of design and construction has slowed to an imperceptible crawl, how are architects and interior designers going to prepare for the future? What can we do to keep going as creative, contributing, and prepared professionals in this situation that has confronted us? 

In reality, we have many alternatives for temporary or permanent career choices and alternative career paths that could lead us to make a living, keep busy, start a new life, and live life in complete bliss and happiness. But why get drastic? The game is not over by a long shot. It is merely the momentum shifting.

There will always be a need for architects and interior designers who can design with pragmatism and knowledge. This is as opposed to going downhill sans brakes with the previous "Dubaistic" buffet in design, which would take a client down the slippery slopes of a construction black hole and then suddenly owning an exotic white elephant who nobody wants to ride later on. We have all "heard" about those projects....never seen one? (You sure?)

The commercial architecture sector could really define any project that includes a pragmatic approach to gain, be it financial, perceptive, emotional, or spiritual. That definition certainly would include human beings temporarily or permanently using and or residing in such a structure. So then, you could easily justify any building as commercial due to the “gain factor.”

At any one time, any structure has or could have the gain factor in economics. That can be translated to the appeal of such a structure as a functional and aesthetically pleasing building so as to satisfy whatever future use this structure could have, as in retrofit and/or adaptive reuse. The future looks good for that sector: One of the most pragmatic approaches to a new building project that an architect can provide a client is the built-in flexibility within the confinement of a project program.
But why do historic structures in the USA fail to become recycled icons in a community as we see in quantity in Europe? Even though a lot of restrictions apply, Europeans adapt and conventional functional uses are also retrofitted to adapt and work within these given spaces.

It is simply because Europeans adapt to functional use and design based on what is frugally available instead of always starting on an abundant blank slate as we have grown accustomed in this country. In the USA, an “anchoring factor” adds to the appeal, meaning that a structure adds more to society because it is different and represents our evolving society.

The future of our design disciplines and service philosophies should bring a demand for increased ingenuity in design, flexibility, durability, and longevity in our buildings. The throw-away/disposable times should be over, as far as a lot of our culture is concerned, and it will definitely apply to the design and construction industry. There will be a focused expectation to return to basic fundamentals of rational approach, to problem solving and solutions, and clients in a new a new time of sobriety will demand it.

The evolution of professionalism and knowledge based involvement and provision of services in any aspect of business, including A&D, is already being much more emphasized than before. The architects and interior designers that can provide that level of knowledge, control, and visioning to a client will be at the forefront of that resurgence of new activity. Now, proof and evidence of studied knowledge is the requirement to undertake any endeavor. Is this a wish, a fact, a desire... or a real need after this recent economic lesson?

Share your thoughts by clicking on "comments" below...

Bob Chisholm, FAIA, is chairman of the board of R.E. Chisholm Architects. Headquartered in Miami, Fla., the firm has completed numerous high-profile projects since 1982. Current and other notable projects include Art Deco Historic Preservation Master Plan, Miami Baseball Park Stadium, Cuban Exile Museum and Library, U.S. Century Bank Headquarters Building, Everglades Farmworker Village (largest affordable housing community for the U.S. Department of Agriculture) and three comprehensive facilities for the homeless in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. He can be reached at bob@chisholmarchitects.com or (305) 661-2070.

Checking In: Beijing Water Cube Water Park Project

After Beijing hosted the 2008 Olympic Games in the uniquely designed “Water Cube,” some of our readers wondered about the future of this mammoth National Aquatic Centre. As Contract magazine previously reported in February, the Water Cube is being re-designed as an entertainment destination, and the multi-feature construction is poised to open in August as "The Happy Magic Watercube Waterpark."

After some thorough follow-up digging, Contract discovered a few new tidbits to satisfy our readers’ design-hungry appetites:

The redesign is by Canadian firm Forrec, internationally known for theme parks, water parks, and other venues. Forrec is one of several top industry suppliers and consultants weighing in on the project, including Australian waterpark veteran Alan Mahony. The design features top-notch and even some "first-ever" attractions, notably the RideHouse play structure, by industry leader ProSlide Technology. This structure will accompany China’s first AquaLoop looping waterslide, by WhiteWater West; a water Tornado; tube slides, body slides; lazy river, wave pool, and other attractions. Additionally, more than one-third of the over 100,000-sq.-ft. Watercube was pre-planned for conversion into a recreational waterpark at the time of its original construction.

“The client has been wonderful to work with,” comments Forrec vice-president Anthony Van Dam in a statement. “They have very high expectations and are focused on quality and innovation. Although the company and its leadership are humble and have made an effort to remain anonymous, I expect you will be hearing much more of them in the coming years.”

Yet, despite all this, an aura of mystery surrounds the opening of the Happy Magic Watercube Waterpark. A representative at ProSlide Technology shared a possible reason: the language barrier. Although this exciting new design should hold international interest, few non-Chinese-speakers are hearing about it—until now. (Trying to track down additional plan details and facts proved to be quite the feat!)

Once the park operations are underway, I'm sure more English-speakers will hear about it and visit with rave reviews. “This promises to be one of the leading indoor waterparks in the world,” says Van Dam. “It will provide enjoyment for many families and, thanks to the unique design, offer two very different but memorable experiences by day and night.” He refers here to the unique bubble design on the building's exterior, which glows from within at night. But so far, Contract magazine seems to have the only scoop on this project.

Have you found any other reports? Share with us by commenting below.

--Lillian Civantos

Fish Out of Water

Here’s one design project that Michael Phelp’s would take to heart—a pavilion made from 200 Speedo LZR Racer swimsuits! The s_pavilion, designed by students at the Chelsea College of Art & Design, sat on display at the London Festival of Architecture June 19 – July 4.

Speedo donated a total of 600 suits to the upcycling project. Recent changes to swimming competition suit regulations left the swimsuit manufacturer with hundreds of leftover, unsellable stock. The students cut and stretched the suits to their maximum capacity, forming a series of interconnected, umbrella-like tents, which are interestingly similar to designs found in natural spider webs. (Personally, the structure makes me think of the story “Alice in Wonderland,” where a miniature Alice is so tiny that she can view at the underside of the “enlightened” caterpillar’s mushroom.)

The s_pavilion, which is now taking a brief summer hiatus, will reappear at the London Design Festival from September 18-26.

--Stacy Straczynski

A Gorgeous Design ‘Pallet’?

Can wooden, shipping pallets be used to create beautiful architecture? While these slats may be one of the world’s most abundantly used, packaging materials, it’s safe to say that they typically wouldn’t be a designer’s first—or even second—choice when selecting building/design materials. However, I came a cross a recent article by Laval University School of Architecture, Québec City professors Jacques Plante and Pascale Pierre that details a project that envisions the pallet as a total architectural solution.

 

To be located in The Music Academy of Quebec City’s Conservatoire courtyard, the Pallet Opera is set to be built in July 2011 for the Quebec International Opera Festival. The set will be a temporary, open-air performance stage made entirely from (you guessed it) pallets—from the basic structure, to the supports, to the acoustic materials, and the actual set décor!

 

The idea, which is more of a research project in essence, comes from Plante’s interest, and concern, with sustainability and the re-use of industrialized materials—turning everyday, common objects into works of art. The pallets will be used in their current form—paying tribute to the original, unaesthetic objects—then returned after the event to the manufacturer’s for reuse in shipping. Now that’s a design concept that’s really in “ship-top” shape!

 

--Stacy Straczynski

Hope Floats

While creating a spectacular visual design might not by itself be a life-saving endeavor, it can be when artful inspiration meets practical safety. Morely Builders recently announced that it has teamed up with Portraits of Hope, an organization that utilizes public art projects as therapy for hospitalized children, in an effort to adorn 30 miles of lifeguard towers (38 in total) along the Los Angeles County Coast with colorful artwork. Each piece created by adults and children with serious illnesses, disabilities, and socio-economic challenges.

The exhibit will be on display through October 1. The recyclable boards and vinyl roofing will then be sent to aid rebuilding in Haiti and Chile.

--Stacy Straczynski

A NeoCon Frame of Mind

Allsteel is gearing up for NeoCon. The workplace furniture solutions company announced recently that it is sponsoring the NeoCon keynote speaker Majora Carter, executive director and founder of the first “green-collar” job training and placement systems. The sponsorship marks Allsteel’s 11th consecutive year of participation.

Carter’s “Green the Ghetto and How Much it Won’t Cost Us” presentation will discuss her definition of environmentalism and how it can lead all socio-economic communities to lead more sustainable lives. The keynote will be held on June 14 at 8 a.m.

Allsteel will showcase its sustainable office solutions at the Merchandise Mart Resource Center No. 1120.

Table Talk

 

While tables most of the time serve a functional purpose—such as providing a level platform to eat dinner or work—Ball-Nogues Studio (BNS) is calling attention to this timeless furnishings’ more socially attractive qualities.

In a very progressive design, the Los Angeles-based integrated design and fabrication practice collaborated with UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design, the Herb Alpert School of Music, and UCLA Design Media Arts to create The Table Cloth, an architectural installation. Located in the courtyard at Schoenberg Hall at the Herb Alpert School of Music, it is composed of hundreds of intertwined low-styled coffee tables and three-legged stools, which drape over the eastern wall of the courtyard, much like fabric, and sprawls out onto the ground below.

The design is meant to serve as a backdrop for not only daily social interactions (symbolically representing how tables are at the center of social and family gatherings) but to an in-the-round performance space that features two configurations: a stage with removable platform and no stage. Conveniently, The Table Cloth simultaneously provides ample seating space for the venue.

“As a visual concept, the installation serves as a symbolic gesture of sustainability and a poetic reminder that the buildings and pavilions we construct although seemingly timeless, are actually impermanent: frozen moments in an ongoing flow of products and materials,” reads the description at ball-nogues.com. 

The project officially opened on April 26 with a musical performance by Herb Alpert School of Music. Eventually, The Table Cloth will be dismantled and the tables and chairs will be given away to the UCLA community.

Project profile available at architizer.com

--Stacy Straczynski

Recycled Skateboards for Retail

Creativity is truly a form of genius. Recently, I came across one of the coolest design ideas ever. And when I say “ever” – I mean in, like, the history of the world (insert valley girl accent here).

Art of Board (AOB) is merging recycling with design by using scraps from broken skateboard decks for retail design. What?! Recycled skateboards for retail? Seriously, these people are brilliant.

In addition, AOB launched I Ride I Recycle, the first-ever skateboard deck recycling organization. The new organization is approaching skateboard shops, manufacturers and skaters themselves to ask for donations of broken or unwanted decks. So, not only is AOB filled with creative geniuses, they’re saving the planet, too. I’m pretty sure there’s nothing better.

Designs include everything from picture frames to mirrors, coasters, tables, mosaics or the recently designed kitchen backsplash for a LEED-certified recording studio in Hollywood and a wall surface in a hip surf shop in Ocean City, Md.

Imagine the uniqueness of every design, not to mention the bragging rights of saving the planet and looking cool while doing it.

I’m consistently amazed, impressed and in pure awe of what people are capable of when it comes to giving our planet love. Something as simple as old skateboards has now morphed into an ultra-hip way to design our spaces and keep our landfills less full. Divine!

Tell us about designers you know who are equally talented. Leave your comments here!

--Heather Strang, Display & Design Ideas

Secret's Out for Hilton

Hilton Worldwide has revealed LightStay, a sustainability secret it has kept for two years. After a long bout of internal testing, it has been unveiled that LightStay has saved more than $29 million in utility costs in 2009. The system records a running account of energy and water use, and waste and carbon outputs at the properties, and computes their causes across 200 operational practices.

Thirteen-hundred Hilton Worldwide properties, all of which used the system, saved enough energy to power 5,700 homes annually, enough water to fill more than 650 Olympic-size pools, and lowered their carbon footprint to the equivalent of removing 34,865 cars from the road. Hilton Worldwide properties that have been using LightStay have reduced their energy use by 5 percent, their carbon output by 6 percent, waste output by 10 percent, and water use by 2.4 percent compared to the previous year.

LightStay also helps Hilton Worldwide’s guests to evaluate their own sustainability practices by calculating the environmental impact of each business meeting or conference. By the end of  2011, all of Hilton Worldwide’s 3,500 properties will be using LightStay.

-- Gillian Wong

TVs Become Tiles: EcoMarmo by Marca Corona

Italian tile manufacturer Marca Corona has introduced a beautiful new porcelain tile product with an intriguing story: these tiles, known as Eco Marmo, are made from recycled television parts!  This is truly intriguing, especially since the main ingredients of porcelain tile are typically sand and minerals from the earth such as feldspar, all natural.  It is rather incredulous upon first hearing that tile can be made from TVs. However, Marca Corona has derived a way to recycle glass from the cathode ray tubes of the unwanted TV sets and use it as raw material for their new line of tile. The TV sets are procured locally in the Sassuolo region of Italy, and thirty television sets yields approximately 230 sf of tile - impressive! The TV glass contributes 40% post-consumer recycled content, and Marca Corona also recycles 40% of water used in the production of the tile.  This tile line bears the Ecolabel certification, which is a European standard concerned with a product's low environmental impact.

The Eco Marmo collection has the look of natural travertine, and comes in three colorways (beige, white, and gold).  There are two finishes: natural (honed), and reflex (polished), and both have a slip-resistant texture.  The tiles are available in large format, ideal for architectural projects of a grand scale. (In fact, the ubiquitous 12"x12" tile isn't even an option - sizes are 18"x18", 12"x24", 18"x36", and 24"x24").   This tile is brand new in the USA, just now making its way to our shores.  It was first introduced in Italy in the Fall of 2009, and will now be available in the US imminently.  Prices to the trade are typical for Italian porcelain tiles, ranging between $7 - $9 sf.

-- Royce Epstein. From the Repeat.No Repeat blog