Date of Submission
Spring 5-9-2022
Degree Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Architecture
Department
Architecture
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Jeffrey Collins
Abstract
What was once confined to the attic or garage has exploded into a billion-dollar industry. Today, there are around 50,000 storage facilities nationwide. This accounts for 2.3 billion sq ft in rentable space. To give you some scale that’s 3 times the size of Manhattan. That’s enough space for all 330 million Americans to physically stand under the facilities’ rooftop at this very moment. As many Americans begin to downsize, reduce their ecological footprint, and become less mobile. The need for temporary storage during resettlement and relocation is on a decline. How will these facilities then be utilized when excessive storage is no longer necessary? Could they transition as the need for storage becomes obsolete? This thesis aims to readapt a storage facility in response to a shifting decline in the industry. A design that would transition a storage facility from its original program to one that brings the community together. Not only aiming to readapt self-storage but to get you to think about the possibilities of that 2.3 billion sq ft in rentable space. And how space which is considered one of the most valuable commodities today has been allocated not to the communities, but to stuff.