We recently attended a meeting at Turbine Hall on the shore of the Delaware River, just south of Philadelphia in a town called Chester. What an amazing rebirth of a building that was designed for something completely different.

We love these types of conversions because they are perfect examples of service design. After all, for decades this building housed massive electrical generators, which provided essential services to both consumers and businesses. As technology advanced over the years, a new power generation plant was built in a new location, rendering this massive structure obsolete - until a group of visionaries saw the potential and applied service design principals to re-imagine new possibilities.

Built in 1916 by The Philadelphia Electric Company, and completed two years later, the Chester Power Station is an example of early twentieth century greatness.  The building was designed by architect John T. Windrim, and engineer W.C.L. Eglin. It was also Windrim who designed The Franklin Institute, The Academy of Natural Sciences, and The Free Library of Philadelphia.

In 2001, the building underwent a $75 million transformation and now hosts a wide variety of high-technology businesses inside. The great open area that once housed the power-generating turbines is now a mixed-use event facility aptly named Turbine Hall. The space is 40,000 square feet with 100 foot high arched ceilings, and a beautiful view of the water. If you’re looking for a dramatic space to host a large event, check out this space.

Tags: Chester Power Station, Eglin, electric, Turbine Hall, Windrim

Posted by Bob Cooper on Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 at 11:11 am and is filed under Innovation, Social, Technology, Trends, Uncategorized.