Public utility building
Examples include pumping stations, gas regulation stations, and other buildings that house infrastructure components and equipment of water purification systems, water distribution networks, sewage treatment systems, electric power distribution, district heating, telephone exchanges, and public service telecommunication equipment.
More elaborated designs were also used to communicate sacred atmosphere to highlight the importance of critical tasks of the facilities such as in sewage pumping stations.
[1] Other examples are Radialsystem (Berlin, Germany sewage pumping station), Kempton Park engine house, Chestnut Hill Waterworks in Massachusetts, United States, Spotswood Pumping Station in Melbourne, Australia, Palacio de Aguas Corrientes in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sewage Plant in Bubeneč, in Prague, Czech Republic, and R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant in Toronto, Canada.
These included diamond patterned brickwork, zigzag motifs, limestone carving of Art Deco lettering, and other incised relief designs.
[7] Infrastructure projects including public utility buildings fall within the responsibilities of civil engineers, typically without participation of architects.
The architect sheathed the upper floors with precast concrete walls, glass blocks, and large rounded vents.
Some infrastructure building designs were more transparent by incorporating glass walls, color-coded pipes, and light for night time illumination.
With this approach, the waste incineration operator in Roskilde, Denmark employed a Danish architect Erick van Egeraat to create an exterior design that celebrates the city's history.
Raw umber aluminum panels with laser cut holes in an irregular pattern was used to create contemporary look with a connection to city's industrial and historic heritage.
The result was a contemporary building with a cross section of an inverted raindrop shape and its side elevation with an appearance of a large pipe covered in decorative stainless steel shingles.
The walkway was built with large glass walls to show the machineries of the plant in a visually pleasing way along with other interactive displays.
This shift prompted alterations in both the types and layouts of these structures, rendering some older public utility buildings obsolete.
In response to growing environmental concerns and a commitment to historical preservation, there has been a concerted effort to minimize the demolition of outdated buildings and instead explore adaptive reuse as a sustainable alternative.
While numerous success stories highlight the viability of adaptive reuse across various building types, challenges persist in garnering public and financial support for such initiatives, hindering the adoption of this approach in some areas.
