South Street Landing Adaptive Reuse

A sensitive historic renovation transforms a vacant power station into an academic hub.

Location

Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Client

CV Properties

Architect

Tsoi Kobus

Project Status

Completed

Original Building

1918

Awards

ENR 2018 Best Project, Renovation/Restoration, New England Region; ACEC/MA 2019 Engineering Excellence Bronze Award; National Trust for Historic Preservation 2019 Richard H. Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Award; Grow Smart RI 2019, Outstanding Smart Growth Project

South Street Landing transforms a group of abandoned industrial sites into an active academic environment that serves three of Rhode Island’s colleges and universities.

The project consisted of the renovation and adaptive reuse of the former Narragansett Electric Power Station into the Rhode Island Nursing Education Center, a shared state-of-the-art facility for the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College, and administrative facilities for Brown University. Using a collaborative approach to the design, extensive high-tech testing and analysis and creative engineering solutions, the South Street Landing team pulled off a powerful transformation of the 1918 power plant—one hundred years later.

Maximizing Reuse

Since the power station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the team had to adhere to historical preservation requirements for all exterior work. Laser scanning uncovered existing conditions from the original construction and a previous unfinished renovation, which enabled the team to leverage existing materials while preserving the building’s historic fabric.

Specifically, analysis of the existing timber pile foundations revealed that the team could support the new floors without replacing the foundation—a decision that made engineering and economic sense. The building was also upgraded to meet modern wind and seismic design standards by introducing new structural elements that work alongside those of the original structure.

When you’re dealing with historic buildings and there’s a desire by the whole team and the community to preserve that structure, it makes sense to understand the structure and reuse as much of the fabric as you can. This project allowed us to flex our engineering muscles.

David Odeh, WSP

David Odeh, WSP

Rising Above Challenges

The original building’s ground floor was located below tidal groundwater levels and subject to flooding. In response, the team raised the floor five feet using pervious low-density foam concrete fill material. The fill material eliminated the need for dozens of new piles and pile caps and resulted in significant budget and schedule savings.

Elevator and stair cores received new masonry shear walls, which work with the original steel frames and brick to carry lateral loads. The reuse approach allowed for new skylights, large openings in the original brick walls and the addition of several floor levels, all without compromising the building’s structural integrity.

Square Feet

300,000

Stories

6