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Intern Research: How Thoughtful Adaptation Can Create a More Meaningful Environment

Spring Semester Interns

September 8, 2025
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Sunny Schick Camera Shop building concept render for the Re:Form international design competition.

As part of our architectural internship, we were given the opportunity to take on a real-world design challenge through the Re:Form international design competition.

The task was simple in scope but big in impact: choose an existing building anywhere in the world in any condition—abandoned, underused, or disused—and reimagine it in a way that gives it new life and brings positive change to the surrounding community.

What followed was a deep dive into adaptive reuse, local history, and creative problem-solving capped by a footprint of approximately 250 square meters (about 2,700 square feet).
Sunny Schick Camera Shop building concept render for the Re:Form international design competition.

Our Design Objective

Our team approached the challenge with three core goals in mind:

  • Sustainability: honoring the past while minimizing environmental impact
  • Functionality: enhancing circulation, usability, and efficiency
  • Community Impact: reconnecting the space with the needs of its neighborhood

To achieve this, we focused on adaptive reuse—the process of giving an existing structure a new purpose while preserving its architectural or historical significance. It’s about bridging past and present, making old buildings useful and meaningful again.
There are several common approaches to adaptive reuse:

  • Renovation: Refurbishing the interior while preserving much of the exterior
  • Integration: Adding new structures that work in harmony with the old
  • Preservation: Maintaining both the exterior and interior aesthetics
  • Facadism: Keeping the façade intact while reimagining the interior
  • Infrastructural Reuse: Turning former infrastructure into functional public space

Our design leaned heavily on renovation and facadism—maintaining the iconic exterior of our chosen building while reworking its interior to meet new functional demands. This approach allowed us to preserve its presence in the streetscape while making it a more usable, responsive space.
The old red brick building for the Sunny Schick Camera Shop. The old red brick building for the Sunny Schick Camera Shop.
The old red brick building for the Sunny Schick Camera Shop. The old red brick building for the Sunny Schick Camera Shop.

Choosing the Site: 407 W. Washington Blvd.

While we could have picked any site in the world, we chose to focus on a local landmark in Downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana, driven by the principle of circular economy—using what we have to regenerate value. We selected our site in the West End Historic District, part of the West Central Neighborhood Association, due to its:

  • High pedestrian activity
  • Cultural and commercial vibrancy
  • Rich historical context

 

The Sunny Schick Camera Shop

Our chosen building once housed Sunny Schick Camera Shop, a beloved photography store founded in 1926 by Martin “Sunny” Schick. Known for its iconic camera-shaped sign and deep community roots, it remained a local staple until closing in 2017 after 90 years of service.

The store stood as Fort Wayne’s last dedicated camera shop—its closure marked not just the end of a business, but the loss of a neighborhood landmark.

Listening to the Community

To determine how to best repurpose the space and serve the area, we looked for input from our DC co-workers and conducted an office-wide survey. Our coworkers’ top suggestions were:

  1. A local grocery store
  2. Creative spaces (galleries, studios, art supply stores)
  3. A neighborhood bar or pregame spot for TinCaps baseball games
  4. A café or bakery

After analyzing nearby foot traffic, zoning, and existing attractions, it became clear that the neighborhood would benefit most from a creative hub—a space for local artists, families, and community events.
Sunny Schick Camera Shop building concept bubble diagram for Re:Form international design competition.
Sunny Schick Camera Shop building concept bubble diagram for Re:Form international design competition.

Programming: A Creative Hub Rooted in Community

In reimagining the Sunny Schick Camera Shop, we focused on creating a flexible, welcoming environment that supports local artists, encourages community interaction, and honors the building’s history.

We introduced a new central entrance to improve circulation and accessibility. This mid-building entry point serves as the main access for visitors, guiding them directly into the heart of the program and creating a stronger connection between the street and interior spaces.

The space comes together through four main zones:
Art Supply Store

Located at the front of the building, this space offers tools and materials for artists of all ages and skill levels. It’s designed to encourage walk-in traffic and spark creativity, acting as a starting point for visitors entering the building.

 

Café

Just beyond the retail area and adjacent to the new entrance, the café provides a cozy, casual place for people to gather, relax, or work. With large windows and seating that spills onto the sidewalk, it helps activate the street while drawing people deeper into the building. The café also supports longer visits, whether someone’s exploring the gallery or taking a break from the studio.

Gallery + Lounge (Flexible Space)

Located on the second floor at the north end of the building, the gallery/lounge is a flexible, open space designed to adapt to a variety of uses. It can host everything from art exhibitions and workshops to pop-up events and community gatherings. With movable furniture and an open layout, the space can easily transform—serving as a gallery, a casual lounge, or a blend of both depending on the occasion.

 

Private Studio Spaces

Located on the second floor at the south end of the building is a private studio space. This room is intended for local artists to rent and use as personal creative spaces.

Sunny Schick Camera Shop building concept second floor plan for Re:Form international design competition. Sunny Schick Camera Shop building concept second floor plan for Re:Form international design competition.

Circulation: Creating Movement and Meaning

One of the biggest changes we made to the original layout was rethinking how people move through the building.

Originally, the building had a centrally located staircase that disrupted the flow between public and private spaces. We removed this staircase and replaced it with an elevator, providing accessibility to the upper levels and opening the building’s core for more functional and flexible use.

We then introduced a new exterior staircase as a key architectural element. Wrapped around a cylindrical volume inspired by a camera lens and vintage film rolls, the stair provides vertical circulation while referencing the building’s photographic legacy. This spiral-like movement links public and private spaces both visually and experientially. It also reinforces the rhythm of the building—from vibrant, open gathering spaces to quiet, focused studios above.

A Design Inspired by the Camera

We honored the building’s photographic legacy by letting the anatomy of a camera guide our design:

The Body: The original structure remains largely intact apart from a small wedge in the front corner to open our program to the public. The building symbolizes the body of a camera—the core where function and movement occur.

The Lens: From the body of the camera is a protruding lens that allows an image to be captured. As you twist the lens, you are able to focus on different elements of an image and frame space. In order to create a similar experience, we use a spiral staircase as our main mode of circulation, focusing on different programmatic elements. The cylinder doubles as a representation of the old film roll, recalling the motion and layering. It reveals different “exposures” as users ascend.

The Shutters: Perforated metal panel screens around the structure evoke the mechanical texture of traditional camera shutters, giving a nod to the industrial film industry when Sunny Schick first opened.

The Viewfinder: A modern roof structure connects old and new elements, metaphorically “framing” the experience.

The Flash Cube and Shutter Button: The site continues the camera geometry by extending past the “lens” to include the flash cube and shutter button, anchoring the exterior experience to the interior. From there, the paths were formed by the foot traffic patterns from the surrounding hot spots.
Sunny Schick Camera Shop building concept mass and reform panels for Re:Form international design competition. Sunny Schick Camera Shop building concept reform axon for Re:Form international design competition.

Materials

Our material palette was carefully selected to reflect the building’s history while introducing modern elements that support its new function. We preserved and restored the original brick façade to maintain its historic character and street presence. Inside, we used exposed wood to showcase the building’s structural character and to further bring some warmth into the building. Polished concrete floors and neutral wall finishes provide a clean, adaptable backdrop for changing exhibits and artwork. Throughout the space, our focus was on durable, sustainable materials that not only enhance longevity but also create a cohesive, contemporary environment rooted in history.

Materials on the site were chosen to complement the building’s design and enhance the visitor experience. Concrete pavers and reclaimed brick define gathering zones and circulation paths, creating a durable, low-maintenance ground plane that ties into the historic character of the structure. Native plantings and low-profile landscaping soften the edges of the site and help create a welcoming transition from the street to the entrance. Weathered steel elements—like planters and signage—add subtle industrial accents that echo the building’s past without overpowering the space. Outdoor seating areas near the café and main entrance further blur the boundary between interior and exterior, inviting community interaction and encouraging longer visits. Together, these site materials support a cohesive, place-specific design that roots the building in its urban context while making space for new stories to unfold.
Sunny Schick Camera Shop building concept materials for Re:Form international design competition. Sunny Schick Camera Shop building concept materials for Re:Form international design competition.
Sunny Schick Camera Shop building concept materials for Re:Form international design competition. Sunny Schick Camera Shop building concept materials for Re:Form international design competition.

Conclusion

This project was more than just a competition challenge—it was a chance to imagine how thoughtful design could breathe new life into a forgotten space. By focusing on adaptive reuse, we found a way to honor the story of the Sunny Schick Camera Shop while reimagining the building’s future as a creative hub for Fort Wayne. In the end, it was exciting to see how a small footprint could still make a big difference.

Eager to see what ideas we can envision for your space? Reach out to our team to learn more.

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