Earlier this morning, Landmarks Illinois released its much-anticipated reuse study for Bertrand Goldberg's Prentice Women's Hospital, a building that Northwestern University is determined to demolish. The report offers three suggestions for reuse (a research building with 164,000-square-feet of lab space; an office building with 206,000-square-feet of office space; or 112-unit residential building) and a bunch of solid reasons to save the building (saving money, architectural value, protecting the neighborhood against "canyonization"). But because it's Earth Day, let's focus on the environmental issues. According to the study, reusing the existing building would prevent 23,700 tons of debris from being sent to the landfill, and it would of course save the construction materials that would be used to build a new building. Lynn Becker notes the obvious: "As has been proven time and again, the greenest building is usually the one that's already built." The study also suggests adding a new green roof to the building's the base. You can download and read the full report at Landmarks Illinois.
· Prentice Reuse Study Released [Landmarks Illinois]
· Landmarks Illinois releases convincing Prentice reuse study [ArchitectureChicago PLUS]
· Complete Curbed coverage of Prentice Women's Hospital [Curbed Chicago]
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