The Gowanus Canal is currently an EPA Superfund site but was once the most highly-traveled canal in the country. The Central Power Station used to run the entire Brooklyn trolley system, but today it is an abode for squatters. This adaptive reuse project references the site’s history and envisions a sustainability plan for the local public bus system. 

 

The programmatic core of the new Brooklyn Power Station is the manufacturing of hydrogen fuel cells. Utilizing hydroelectric power, canal water is filtered and channeled into the building to undergo electrolysis. This generates hydrogen gas which is distributed to bus fueling stations along with the fuel cells which are also fabricated within the building. 

 

To engage the community and establish its place in the neighborhood, the building visually expresses the manufacturing process and emphasizes its relationship to the canal. Mainly, the project features a glass chamber in which water continually rains down, giving it an audible and visual presence while assisting the building’s cooling, humidification, and filtration systems.