Adaptive Reuse
Adaptive Reuse
Re-using existing
buildings for new
functions has many
sustainable, cultural,
economic and place-
making advantages.
1
What is adaptive
re-use?
The renewed interest in conservation and the The growth in adaptive re-use is more likely to
heritage of our built environment today can be occur in buildings and structures that are not
linked to a general public concern that post-war heritage-listed, those facilities that are marginal
urban thinking and construction often resulted in straight heritage value, or are not yet of an
age to be recognised as of heritage interest.
and the loss of local character. Becoming a For example factories, industrial buildings or
wider cultural concern in the 1970s and 80s, large manufacturing plants, such as Tonsley
a new approach to conservation led to many Park in South Australia, would not typically
be considered as having architectural merit.
heritage register of places of interest. Today, However, in such building stock the advantages
thousands of heritage places are on many of adaptive re-use can be linked to memory and
registers protecting much of the historic cultural value rather than built heritage. These
building stock in Australia. buildings have typically helped to form the
identity of a place – often acting as a landmark
or a way to describe, or to know that place. The
Burra Charter is a document that has much
Adaptive re-use gives new
as well as places of intangible community value,
irrespective of their recognition in legislation.
life to a site, rather than The Burra Charter Process Steps in planning for
or turning a site into a that deals with change, while still allow for
museum. Adding a new During the 1980s and 90s many nineteenth
century warehouses were converted into
layer without erasing residential dwellings, creating a dominate type
of adaptive re-use that remodelled robust
building fabric into individual dwellings. There
earlier layers, an adaptive have been, however, many public adaptive
re-use projects particularly in the last ten
years that have created public buildings and
reuse project becomes spaces from older, sometimes heritage-
protected buildings. These have often been
industrial in their former use, such as a railway
part of the long history workshop becoming a performance facility.
In this way, adaptive re-use projects speak to
a wider cultural shift – from an industrial and
of the site. It is another manufacturing based economy to one centred
around services, education and cultural life.
There has been a shift in the type of heritage
being considered for adaptive re-use projects.
The closure of large, generally industrial areas,
outcome.
purpose.
Memory and place that of a new building. The cost of energy in the
future will only continue to escalate, making
A building, structure or landscape is more than
the physical fabric – even if that fabric is ornate, proposition in an addition to its well-established
of aesthetic value or highly crafted. The years heritage, authenticity and place-making
of use any aged building has had represents a
set of cultural and personal memories of its life
and that, which happen in and around it. Cultural The Green Building Council of Australia’s Green
Star rating tool has an Innovation Challenge
and both are important. An older building can that aims to encourage the re-use and uptake
be an unremarkable building for its time, but of heritage listed buildings and rewards those
the cultural value can sit in its original use, that celebrate the heritage value of the asset.
its history and changes of use. By retaining,
rethinking and reworking an existing building
this history can continue in physical form, and
be added to. The value of memory serves to
Social Sustainability
create a sense of place. The character of a Maintaining heritage and contributory building
place is hard to create, and so to draw from the stock and familiar environments helps to
past, even the relatively recent past, can help maintain evident links to the past. The broad
form identity and belonging for a community aims of social sustainability can be enhanced
through adaptive re-use projects. By not
breaking evident links to the past, the former
Planning controls lives of buildings and places, cohesive social
bridges can be maintained and enhanced.
Planning systems control both physical form Entirely new built environments can appear
and use of spaces and building stock. Many alien to those who have been involved in some
statutory planning regimes aim to protect way with the former life of a place. Maintaining
these links while encouraging diversity is
achieved through adaptive re-use projects that
layer new and old meanings onto each other.
typically seek to direct new building works to The past should be embraced while addressing
relate to, or conform to ideas of character that current and future needs through design and
have been established through older (typically integration of contemporary social standards,
pre-war) building stock. This can range from particularly those around equity. Core social
housing types, such as weatherboard cottages, values such as pride, memory and participation
or larger types such as brick factories. can all be enhanced by careful consideration of
Outcomes where both the new and old adaptive re-use strategies.
fabric are synthesised tend to be considered
Authenticity
A major strength of an adaptive re-use
Both well-loved heritage buildings and former The use of original drawings, and then
industrial buildings tend to create strong views those made for subsequent alterations and
from the communities that surrounds them. The additions should be obtained in detail and to
community, including those who were involved the fullest extent possible (including primary
in the building’s former life and those who live sources). These documents are essential
and work around it, will bring a greater sense of in understanding the existing condition,
involvement and ownership in the project. and these along with multiple site visits and
extensive new photographic records will
This process needs to be in addition to assist in forming a comprehensive three-
development application processes that give dimensional understanding of what the current
third party rights to have a say in the planning condition actually is. Buildings often reveal
process. As a general rule, communities
design.
valued by the client, and
needs to be protected Life-cycle costing
Standards and legislation surveying assist this process but quality and
comprehensive advice needs to drive this. In
The core economic advantage of re-use is doing so, potentially prohibitive costs can be
not having to fund the construction of a new extensively reduced to increase viability.
building. There can however be considerable
costs in upgrading an existing building to meet
current structural and other building codes.
Compliance is a key area and this has seen
Budgeting and cost control
considerable growth in recent years in terms When budgeting for an adaptive re-use project,
of awareness and implementation. This covers the cost consultant or project manager should
everything from the height of balustrading to
level access to all areas, as is the case in all project has over a new build project. This takes
buildings now except inside private dwellings. the form of higher consultant costs for an
The extent to which an existing building needs equivalent budget . In addition the allowance for
to be upgraded to meet requirements as- contingencies, particularly during construction
new depends on the extent of works being
performed and uses involved. This is typically made to understand the existing conditions,
new area. Operating intelligently within these complexity throughout, particularly through
parameters, as well as others, can control
cost involved in upgrades while still providing Allowances for construction contingencies
excellent outcomes. Such examples include
higher rate than for a new build project where
upgrading of an existing structure to meet unexpected elements are only revealed during
current earthquake codes. construction.
The growth in recent years toward broader
economic analysis of projects helps the
economic model for adaptive reuse. The Procurement methods
concept of Life Cycle Costing (LCC) is now
Procurement methods for adaptive re-use
to outline all the costs a project would face projects face the same challenges as other
over an agreed life span. This considers types of projects. The process of procurement
of a well-designed building starts with the
in running buildings. In adaptive re-use appointment of a quality design team. From
projects, by limiting the capital cost of the there, procurement refers to the management
initial construction, project budgets can more of the construction of a building to its
completion. It involves not just the contractual
maintenance and lower energy systems that method used, but also the execution of a
ultimately bring the total life cost down. built project from idea to delivery and on to
operation.
Project implementation 7
Alternative forms of procurement such
as design and construct, with the design
Servicing
Building Services, predominately heating
and cooling, need to be carefully considered
when undertaking an adaptive re-use project.
The implications around re-servicing the
building should be carefully considered and
questioned. If handled poorly, considerable
cost implications and poor design outcomes
may occur. Consideration around comfort,
Watchpoints 9
Examples of adaptive re-use projects
Paddington Reservoir
Gardens, Sydney
This project by Tonkin Zulaikha Greer is a
new urban park that makes a ruined former
reservoir accesible for the public to enjoy and
explore. Developed by the City of Sydney, the
park reveals and interprets part of Sydney’s
nineteenth-century water infrastructure in
new, unexpected and engaging ways. It plays
an important urban role, providing open space
adjacent to Paddington’s civic precinct and
contributing to the City of Sydney’s Paddington
Conservation Area.
sit between new insertions, making the most Tonsley Park, Adelaide
of the original condition, with top light halls
showing original fabric including original rail The adaptive re-use of the former Mitsubishi’s
eight hectare Main Assembly Building (MAB)
Structural elements removed in the area were is a key feature of the Tonsley redevelopment
redeployed in the scheme, such as some being undertaken by Renewal SA. The vision
large trusses now forming part of an entrance for Tonsley is to achieve a distinctive built form,
canopy. unlike any other, through design excellence.
11
Published in 2014 by Contributors: Stuart Harrison, Justine Clark, Kirsteen
Mackay, James Martin and Diana Snape
and Architecture SA
(ODASA) Although every care has been taken in preparing this
report, no responsibility or liability will be accepted
Level 6, by ODASA, its employees, agents or advisors for its
Roma Mitchell House accuracy or completeness.
GPO Box 1533
Adelaide SA 5001 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may
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