SOM Managing Partner Larry Chien presented on adaptive reuse at the BAU Congress China 2025, the leading architectural design expo in Asia Pacific region. The annual event brings together global design leaders, developers, policy makers, real estate stakeholders, and engineering experts to explore emerging paradigms for high-quality development in architecture.

Chien’s presentation, “Reuse of Existing Building Structures as a New Source for a Sustainable Future,” explored how the buildings we already have can serve as powerful resources for the generations ahead. Drawing on case studies from SOM’s global practice—from Moynihan Train Hall, one of New York City’s most significant civic transformation, to the Grimes Engineering Center at UC Berkeley, where the adaptive reuse of a mid-century structure is breathing new life into the campus, to the South Bund Financial Center in Shanghai, where cultural and industrial heritage was revitalized—he demonstrated how SOM continues to unlock the potential of restoring, repositioning, and reinventing existing structures.