Duke University’s Talent Identification Program serves gifted and talented youth. Since its 1980 inception, it has grown from its campus location to serve over 3,700 participants annually in residential programs in seven states in the US and four international locations. The TIP administrative offices were overcrowded and a solution that would accommodate the staff was found by repurposing an historic industrial building.

The Power House in downtown Durham was originally constructed in 1926 to provide electricity for the Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company operations. New structural floors were inserted in the large volumes that housed the generators and turbines but were held back from the outside wall to preserve a sense of the vast spaces. Enclosed offices were given glass fronts and located in the interior to allow light to penetrate the open office areas. New design elements hearken to the building’s industrial past and mechanical systems are exposed. Because the existing architectural fabric was so rich, bold colors delineate new elements and form a counterpoint to the predominate red brick on the exterior walls.