Released with the spring edition of KPF Review, the firm’s bi-annual publication, Adaptive Reuse looks at four sustainable design strategies utilized by the firm. Some interventions are motivated by respect for history and an urge to value the preservation of an architectural creation’s original meaning and impact. Others are focused on rejuvenation—reskinning an existing building that has good bones, with a new state-of-the-art façade that lets in more light and fresh air. Conversion requires deep knowledge, not only of present-day best practices for the new program type but also of the previous program. Finally, densification offers the chance to update an existing building to the needs of today’s tenants, keeping as many elements of that embodied carbon as possible in use, while maximizing real estate value.

Through clever adaptation, the resulting designs can become more interesting—and certainly more sustainable—than a design for a wholly new structure.