ABSTRACT
Bruner/Cott were selected for their track record in adapting industrial spaces for new uses, notably converting an abandoned mill complex into an art museum, MassMOCA. Although much smaller in scale than MassMOCA, the Powerhouse had its complexities. The design was underpinned by three themes: transforming an inward-focused building into an outward-looking one; flexibility of use; and weaving old and new together into a single composition. The extension is not treated as a building, but as a garden wall organically emerging from the Powerhouse. Run by a student-led committee, the Powerhouse has hosted fashion shows, yoga sessions, painting classes, parties and sports screenings amongst other events, many of which were never contemplated by its architects or Amherst's facilities team. The top-floor studios were illuminated through the insertion of north-facing roof lights atop a raised roof podium. The ground floors were used to house bulky, highly serviced mechanized modelling and prosthetic workshops, from which project small glazed extensions for 3D printing.
