Re-light

+Recipient of the 2020-2021 Energy + Design Award & Permanently featured on the WAconnect website and the Waterloo Architecture Instagram page

Location Youngstown, NY, United States

Program Off-grid Research Residence

Course 1B Enviro. Design (Winter 2021)

Supervisor Anna Beznegova

Collaborator Leanne Li

Re-light is an adaptive reuse of the inactive Fort Niagara Light, an old and inactive lighthouse steps away from the historic site of Old Fort Niagara in Niagara Falls, NY, originally built in1726 as a military base for American soldiers during the world wars. The small residential property is an off-grid research station for two researchers hired by the city to study the military and maritime history of the site and its future. Re-light creates a clear balance between preserving as much of the existing lighthouse while adding an extension that directly responds to the site on material, formal and programmatic scales. For example, the façade draws inspiration from the historic fort. By reusing an existing structure, Re-light drastically reduces its embodied energy. Coupled with passive design, renewable energy sources and resilient strategies to combat region-specific climate threats, Re-light prioritizes sustainable design , critical to mitigating the negative impacts of the construction industry on the Earth.