Fast Company — "Why this coal power plant is the future of green building"

‘When Beloit College was offered the chance to redevelop the decommissioned plant, college officials saw an opportunity to turn the building into a new campus hub. The college tapped Chicago-based Studio Gang, an architecture firm known as much for its creative skyscrapers as its penchant for adapting old, obsolete structures. The resulting design transforms the former power plant into a 120,000-square-foot student union, fitness center, and conference space that links to the riverfront. . . . “What ended up being most influential in terms of informing the design was the structure itself,” Wolf says. The innards of the building held a remarkable web of industrial beams and structures, all meant to hold the huge equipment required to process and burn coal. “It almost looks like a gigantic jungle gym inside,” Wolf says. Though some pieces of equipment were removed to make space for the student center’s amenities, much of this interior jungle gym formed the structural support for one of the project’s key design elements: an elevated running track that loops its way through the entire complex. On a jog, students can pass over social spaces, glimpse the pool through windows, pass by a gym, and look down on the turf-covered practice field.’

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