Powerhouse Arts is a 170,000-sf not-for-profit venue and production facility located along the Gowanus canal. This redevelopment project transformed a derelict structure on a contaminated site into a center for artists consisting of workshop space for fabrication in wood, metal, ceramics, textile, and print. The industrial landscape and history of the site played a pivotal role in the design. The maker spaces in the repurposed boiler house are illuminated by an industrial system of cool white LED linears organized along a service band in coordination with multiple types of equipment. Within the adjacent building, housing public exhibition and the “Grand Hall” venue, contrasting warm white downlights and sleek linear fixtures accentuate the existing brick coffers and preserved graffiti throughout the space. Selecting lighting systems and appropriate controls that allowed for ultimate flexibility and future programmatic needs were considerations at the foreground of our design.

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