During the fall semester, Professor Todd Zeiger led research and documentation with first-year students at the former administration building of the Studebaker Automobile Company near downtown South Bend.
This work then became the site of their project in the Traditional Design Studio with Professor Steven Semes. The students compiled historic and recent drawings, documents, and photographs and made onsite surveys of existing conditions in the long-abandoned building designed by Solon Beman in 1895.
Based on their research, the students then made proposals for the conservation and adaptive reuse of the building for educational purposes such as a school of traditional building trades. The projects addressed the changing urban context around the building, defined preservation treatments for the historic building fabric, and designed alterations or additions needed to suit the proposed new uses. Guest critics at the final design reviews in December were Vincent Michael, John Cluver, and Carl Elefante.
“The adaptation of existing buildings is one of the most effective ways to decarbonize our building industries,” says studio critic and Duda Center Director Steven Semes. “It is essential that students entering the preservation field learn how to do this in ways that reduce carbon emissions and waste while, at the same time, conserving our cultural heritage. In adaptive reuse, historic preservation and sustainable development go hand-in-hand.”