The Challenges of Adaptive Reuse: Charlotte’s Camp North End Remains a Work in Progress

By John Gallagher – For the Albert Kahn Legacy Foundation. Albert Kahn was still a young man when he designed Detroit’s historic Packard Plant at the dawn of the 20th century. The sprawling industrial site that emerged from Kahn’s drawing table did more than establish Kahn as an architect of…

One of the core missions of the Albert Kahn Legacy Foundation is to advocate for the preservation and adaptive reuse of historic structures and districts. For the Foundation, buildings that embody a city’s architectural ingenuity, cultural memory and civic identity are treasures to be preserved whenever possible. Few places illustrate…

The Duderstadt Center at University of Michigan and the Albert Kahn Legacy Foundation welcomed guests on January 7, 2026 for the opening reception of Women of the Kahn Family. The newly curated collection honored the artistic, cultural and intellectual contributions of the wives, daughters and female relatives of the renowned…

The former Ford Assembly Plant in Richmond, California stands as a rare survivor of America’s wartime mobilization and a model of successful adaptive reuse. Completed in 1931, the half‑million‑square‑foot “daylight factory” was designed at the height of the Great Depression, when Kahn’s mastery of reinforced concrete, natural illumination and efficient…

In this personal reflection, a Charlotte resident recounts how an impromptu visit to Camp North End – which is housed in a century‑old Albert Kahn–designed Ford Motor Company plant – has unexpectedly reshaped the way he sees buildings, history and the possibilities of adaptive reuse. What began as a simple…