This adaptive re-use includes administrative offices, auditorium, locker rooms, break rooms, and support spaces for the City of Durham's Solid Waste Operations. The city's trash collection trucks are housed on site and a new four bay truck washing facility is also part of the project's scope.

Early in the design process, the Durham Solid Waste Operations director requested that the building design take into consideration sustainability and "green architecture." Addressing sustainable design issues through the architecture and landscape architecture allows the site to express the city's commitment to reducing waste and creating a place for public awareness of the environment.

The City of Durham and the design team reviewed several new building schemes and in response to making an environmental statement, it was decided to renovate and add to the abandoned 60 year old incinerator building. The building's existing brick skin and large openings remained in the design and new exterior elements were wrapped in metal panels and glass. Three existing large brick smoke stacks were also retained as a reminder of the building's past and as sculptural elements on the site.

Photography: James West

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