The loss of brick-and-mortar stores leads to the deterioration of town and city centers, depriving people of civic spaces. Retail designs that include the local community can help reactivate both the historical civic function of marketplaces and reinvigorate interest in retail districts.
Adaptive product design means addressing all phases of a product's lifecycle, anticipating change in a manner that allows users to address it in the least invasive manner possible. This means designing robust systems that are durable, adaptable, maintainable and replaceable.
Adaptive reuse can be a powerful tool for reactivating a neighborhood in a way that respects the social and historical fabric of the area and reduces the environmental impact of construction. It entails as many challenges as it does opportunities. This article addresses some of each.
Powerhouse Arts is housed in a formerly abandoned 1904 Power Station. Once a popular venue for graffiti artists, squatters and ravers, it was affectionally called the "Batcave." In 2016, Herzog & de Meuron reimaged the space, respecting its heritage. Today, it houses a thriving artistic community.
The new Buffalo AKG Art Museum is designed as a community-focused institution. Litelab provided a service spine that combines power distribution, emergency, HVAC and data infrastructures, and custom LED lights with up to 6000 lumen output at 98 CRI.
Digital controls promise ease, efficiency and intelligence. Ease in the form of programmable scenes and automation; efficiency through sensor network feedback that helps reduce energy consumption; intelligence in the form of fixture performance monitoring and measurement.
