Adaptive re-use
An overview of projects, products and exclusive articles about adaptive re-use
Project • By Oppenheim Architecture + Design LLP • Offices
KIRCHPLATZ OFFICE/RESIDENCE
The design of this adaptive re-use project was born initially out of a design competition initiated by the City of Muttenz/Basel. The design was based on the renovation of an historic farmhouse situated within the historic center core of the city. The original farmhouse was constructed in 1743. Today the converted farmhouse serves as an office for an architectural design company, provides community meeting space, and serves as a compelling link to a new, adjacent private residence.
The new design aimed to provide a fresh interpretation to the existing traditional features of the historic farmhouse building and it’s interior. This is achieved by creating new openings for natural daylight and by using a crisp white finish in the interiors... More
Project • By AGC Designs • Hospitals
Revitalization of Lui Seng Chun as the Chinese Medicine and Healthcare Centre
Famed as the “Ghost House” of Kowloon City for over 20 years, most of the nearby residence were uncertain about the story of Lui Seng Chun, except the elderly. “It’s pretty, I used to live nearby when Lui Seng Chun was still operating in early 40s.” An old man walk passed and was pleased with the new image of Lui Seng Chun.
Lui Seng Chun was constructed in 1931 by an English Architect Mr. W. H. Bourne locating on a prominent triangular site in the dense heart of Kowloon, Lui Seng Chun, a tong-lau (the local term for Hong Kong shop-house typology) which G/F was occupied by a Chinese bone-setting medicine shop named "Lui Seng Chun 雷生春", while the upper floors became living quarters for the members of the Lui's family.
The Chinese defini... More
Project • By A*PT Architecture (Atelier Pagnamenta Torriani) • Offices
Swiss Institute
The project is an adaptive re-use of a former printing plant in the Landmark New Era Building in Soho, New York City.
The client required gallery space, a library and an office area.
The gallery and library are designed as interlocking spaces, both being changeable and adaptable to different situations. The library, near the entrance, doubles as a reception area, and the gallery doubles as a performance space.
The existing wood floor was salvaged and treated; the beautiful vaulted ceiling was restored.
The new three-dimensional thick walls were introduced as layers, leaving the history of the space intact.
The museum quality light fixtures were developed by a museum light manufacturer and were installed without interfering with... More
Project • By Lehrer Architects • Villages
Santee Village
Lehrer Architects is involved in shaping the retail spaces and exterior facades of this multi-faceted and eagerly anticipated adaptive re-use project in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles.Conceived of as a "live-work community", the project encompasses the renovation and remodel of seven buildings surrounding the existing Santee Alley in the Fashion District. The Alley will be reborn as an urban courtyard and mall, sensitively balancing restored historic buildings with a clean, colorful urban aesthetic More
Project • By Architecture Design and Research Group Ltd •
Revitalization of Mei Ho House as City Hostel
This project aims to revitalise Mei Ho House of Shek Kip Mei Estate into a youth hostel through sensitive adaptive re-use of the historic building under the “Revitalising Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme” introduced by the The Commissioner for Heritage's Office under the Hong Kong Development Bureau. Shek Kip Mei Estate plays a remarkable role in the public housing history as it was the first Mark I type public housing built in Hong Kong. Mei Ho House was designed as a resettlement with basic and simple features. It was a six-storey building characterized by two identical wings linked up by a cross piece forming the H-shaped plan. The balcony ran around the perimeter of each floor.
The project preserves both the tangible her... More
Project • By Maryann Thompson Architects • Primary Schools
Atrium School
The Atrium School looked to Maryann Thompson Architects to design its new home when the progressive K-6 program was forced to find new facilities. The project called for the adaptive re-use of an open warehouse structure on a limited site in a densely populated residential area. Because the parcel is long and narrow, it presents specific challenges to the arrangement of parking fields and green space and the movement of pedestrian and vehicular traffic through the site. A satisfying resolution was achieved by rethinking the building’s orientation on the site. Rather than make use of the building’s current entrance, which faces a main thoroughfare, the school’s entrance and vehicular access to the site was repositioned at the back of the c... More
Project • By Mathew & Ghosh Architects • Parks
Freedom Park
THE URBAN PARK. To induce the freedom between neutral spatial possibilities - where the PAST appears and disappears as fragments in a dream; the beauty of the ruin; this landscape / architectural apparatus dissolves, dematerializes and proposes new foci. To enhance the landscape (NATURE) within which the interventions, negotiations and interactions of MAN reveal the essential yearnings for activity, gathering, solitude and nature.
The Central Jail had an existing configuration inspired by the panoptican prison design - a concept of punishment as a means of social reform through discipline and isolation.
POSITIONS The Freedom Park site is:
A. Peripheral to the old city & new cantonment.
B. Lies on the main North South Axis... More
Project • By Solarlux • Apartments
“Boston“
The exclusive residential project “Boston“ at the Eastern waterfront of Amsterdam is a prime example of the successful adaptive re-use of existing building fabric and the modern refurbishment of derelict in-dustrial buildings. In the course of last year old empty warehouses were turned into luxury “Loft” apartments with modern facilities and charming views onto the harbour and the close-by old City. Kitchens, bathrooms, sitting and bedrooms are open plan so that residents can arrange the inner layout in a flexible manner by means of partitioning walls.
The project “Nieuw Amerika“ comprises the Boston block and the new Detroit and Chicago buildings and should be completed by 2007. All three buildings are connected underground by a two-tie... More