Structures
by Luke Carothers A DYNAMIC APPROACH TO ADAPTIVE REUSE Recently, there has been a push within the AEC industry —particularly in the United States—to shift our focus to new ways to adapt and reuse old buildings to fit new purposes. The term Adaptive Reuse has risen to prominence over recent years, and there has been no shortage of stunning and innovative examples of its deployment. While there is certainly nothing new within human history in terms of using an old building for a new purpose, our concept of how those spaces transform has deepened to develop a focus on things like sustainability. As we continue to look towards Adaptive Reuse projects as a means of approaching sustainability and embodied carbon, Dan Sullivan, Co-Founder and Vice President of KOVA, believes there needs to be an evolution of our framework around the lifespan of buildings— shifting from static to dynamic.
reassess our framework for how the AEC industry operates, and understand that we are currently in a high waste, high carbon, and high toxin industry. Working from this understanding, Sullivan points out that the AEC industry should be looking at the existing building stock as resources that can be “reused and adapted.” While adaptive reuse projects are common throughout the AEC industry in examples like factory spaces being converted to loft housing, Sullivan believes the principles of adaptive reuse can be applied across the spectrum to include new build projects as well. When it comes to applying this way of thinking to new builds, Sullivan says we should be thinking about potential future uses of spaces. For Sullivan, this line of thinking plays out most vividly with interior spaces, which are the most commonly changed elements of structures over time. While the current attitude maintains these spaces as largely static, Sullivan points to our extensive track record converting old brick structures in places like Boston and New York. By shifting to a more dynamic way of thinking about these spaces, Sullivan believes that structures will become more akin to “living artifacts that can actually evolve with human beings.” The first steps of this change are largely centered around finding ways to eradicate the disposability mindset, particularly within the construction industry. Importantly, after we are able to move beyond our current widespread challenges with waste, says Sullivan, “we can start looking at what tools will help move towards this new attitude.” Sullivan believes the tools we need to develop will be intellectual, pointing to the vast number of architects designing with the future in mind and others specializing in adaptive reuse or reconfigurable interiors. For Sullivan, a building site theoretically lasts forever. The core shell of the structure will have a roughly 100 year lifespan. The mechanical systems will have a lifespan around two decades if maintained properly. The aspect of a building with the shortest lifespan, perhaps of any, is its interior. These short-lived layers of complex buildings tend to break down over the course of a decade, with that timeline being much shorter in many cases. By combining a focus on creating flexible interiors with an outward-in approach, Sullivan is confident in our ability to explore future adaptive reuse opportunities and build a more sustainable AEC industry.
Sullivan, whose background is as a trained architect, began his career in the AEC industry working on new building projects primarily in China, crafting spaces such as libraries and museums. During this phase of his career in China, Sullivan points out the number of “geometrically interesting and programmatically complicated” projects he was able to work on. His career eventually took him to the United States, where he began working on several adaptive reuse projects, pointing out the US’ love of reinventing and renovating older spaces. Looking to make more of an impact in the construction and architecture industries, Sullivan pivoted to research and development, administering a lab dedicated to R&D for the built environment at Google for six years. During this time, Sullivan says much of his time was spent developing products and looking at new ways to innovate different processes. Sullivan believes that—to combat construction waste and conserve resources—there is a need to leverage new technologies and reconfigurable products on the market. Within the larger conversation of adaptive reuse, there is a growing belief that buildings should be designed with adaptive interiors that have the ability to “evolve at the same rate humans do.” The framework of adaptive interiors is based on the idea that each part of a building has a different lifespan, and that these parts should evolve in a way that suits the people inhabiting that space. Sullivan still carries that belief that the AEC industry should be in a constant state of innovation. Sullivan believes there is a need to
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Fall 2024
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