ZGF partnered with Google to transform the landmark Spruce Goose Hangar in Playa Vista, California. A 450,000+ SF, four-level “building-within-a-building” was developed inside the seven-story, 750-foot-long historic wooden structure. Built by Howard Hughes in 1943 for the construction of the Hercules IV airplane (aka the “Spruce Goose”), the hangar now comprises office, meeting, food service and event spaces, and employee amenity spaces.
Source: Google, Spruce Goose | ZGF
Courtesy Hotel Can Ferrereta
Found on Mallorca’s south-east coast, this 17th-century building will comprise 32 rooms, a spa with hammam and indoor pool. Can Ferrereta is inspired by the typical Spanish summer house: its light and airy design will champion original wooden beams, a cream palette and stone
Photography: Nigel Young
Apple took on yet another renovation of a historically significant building in 2019, converting Washington DC’s first public library into a new flagship store. The restoration of the 116-year-old Carnegie Library by Foster + Partners took two years and involved installing a new skylight above a central plaza used for hosting events.
Source: The most innovative adaptive reuse projects of 2019 – The Spaces
For the architecture firm Schaum/Shieh, reuse necessarily means embracing the “background buildings” found throughout American suburbs, like the strip mall. In Houston, Schaum/Shieh retrofitted a midcentury washateria into a series of storefronts, while taking pains to highlight the craftsmanship of the original build. Courtesy Peter Molick
The building sector accounts for about a third of global fuel consumption, but its systematic energetic impact may be still greater. Because we sense the glow and hum of the machines around us, because we are accustomed to paying monthly energy bills and encouraged by the idea that adjusting the thermostat saves money—and, somehow, the planet—we may be more sensitive to running costs than to embodied energy. But, as Moe puts it in that interview, “that’s not really dealing with energy, that’s dealing with the fuel efficiency of a building, which is important, but missing the big picture.”
Source: A New Idea in Architecture? No New Buildings – Metropolis
While the main nave of the church serves as an impromptu auditorium, it’s ambulatory alcoves are fitted out as stationary lounges. (Slava Balbek)
Salvaging and restoring the historic features of the listed Our Lady of Guadalupe church, the firm implemented a scheme that makes good use of its dramatic nave and ambulatory alcoves. While the former plays host to a moveable seating and table system, the latter serves a series of stationary lounges. Together, they set the stage for anything from film-screenings to hackathons.
Source: Balbek Bureau converts a San Francisco church into a startup incubator – Archpaper.com
Matt Bolen of Waterloo-based Edge Architects in front of the century-old Huck Glove factory before construction began.
PETER LEE
“Call it a new generation that doesn’t necessarily place the same value on suburban, shiny new things,” he says, explaining that younger employees want to live and work in communities with a history. “The great thing about these older buildings is they have a story that people can connect to.”
Source: Century-old glove factory to anchor new, state-of-the-art centre – The Globe and Mail
The new Runway Rink at the TWA Hotel allows guests to skate on the tarmac around the hotel’s 1958 Lockheed Constellation Connie airplane, a vintage airliner which has been converted into a cocktail lounge.
Source: Ice Skate Next to a Vintage Airliner on the Tarmac at NYC’s TWA Hotel – Untapped New York
The project is an ode to the industrial and cultural heritage of Amsterdam and brings to light the importance of water to the area. The suites, spread all throughout the city, are a love letter to Amsterdam architecture, from Amsterdam School to Modernism.
Source: These adaptive reuse hotel suites in Amsterdam are built inside old bridge houses
The tropical game room features shuffle board, bumper pool, and foosball. Images courtesy of Cedar Street
“Mid-century modernism was a no-brainer as the source of inspiration for design,” Fritz tells Curbed. “Tiki lounges and mid-century go hand in hand. There was a sort of obsession with tropical environments in Hollywood movies of the era, and Hawaii became a state at the end of the era, forever enmeshing American and Polynesian culture.”
Source: Uptown office building reborn as midcentury-inspired apartments – Curbed Chicago
Photograph by Lara Swimmer
American firm Lever Architecture used weathering steel and original timber in the adaptive reuse of two factories built over 70 years ago for a hay-baler manufacturer.
Source: Lever Architecture turns Portland factories into creative workspace
Courtesy of Culturespaces
The structure was first operational between 1941 and 1943, used by the Germans to house U-boats. The converted bunker has already hosted temporary shows and concerts, but now four of its sheds will become permanent exhibition spaces.
Source: Bordeaux’s WWII submarine base will become the world’s biggest digital art centre – The Spaces
The property still looks like an industrial site from far away, but every square inch has been repurposed for recreation.
The Idea File, staff writers Jim and Deb Fallows explore the phenomenon of the dead mall, and its emerging afterlife.
Side view of part of the old Banks school. Photo via Jeff E. Newman
In plain English, the City’s looking for just the right developer who can buy the property as is and develop it into something fabulous.
Located in a rural area in Quebec, the old barn was in near ruins until the Montreal-based firm was hired to convert it into a secondary family home. Thankfully, instead of bulldozing the beautiful old building to the ground, the studio managed to salvage nearly every single material to reuse in the new design.
Source: Decrepit barn in Quebec was converted into stunning modern design by salvaging old materials
Nick Glimenakis
The Clover Hill Foundry is a house with history. Originally built in the late 19th century, the interconnected brick buildings in Somers, New York, were first used as the hub for an ore mining operation. Later in the 1940s, three artists bought the dilapidated buildings, renovating them into standalone homes for their families.
Source: Upstate NY weekend home stunningly renovated from former ore foundry – Curbed
BOB WILLIAMS FOR THE INQUIRER
Tara Dugan at her shop, worKS.
Tara Dugan is an exception. In 2016, while searching for a building to open a boutique, she noticed an empty, 70-year-old gas station on a lightly traversed road in Kennett Square, a borough of just over 6,100 people. She saw the potential in an unloved structure, she said, as did three women who repurposed a Sunoco gas station in Malvern to serve gourmet fare.
Source: Ruthlessly competitive fuel market creates closed-station blight — and opportunity for reuse
Manzanita celebrates the uniqueness of CARTM and its reuse /recycle leadership and the fact that the City was the first coastal community to ban the use of plastic bags all in the name of environmental stewardship. Reusing building materials and diverting demolition materials from a landfill all contribute to LEED points which are not available for new construction so why did the City decide to not give citizens the opportunity to even have this discussion and prevent approximately 500 dump truck loads of building material from being hauled to the landfill?
Source: OP/ED: You never know what you got till it’s gone. – Tillamook County Pioneer
The Graham, Anderson, Probst and White-designed building occupies a high-profile site along the Chicago River. Getty Images/iStockphoto
“The power house could have a tremendous future if we encourage something creative and clever,” Miller explains. “It takes imagination and a sensitive approach to rethink these kinds of buildings. London’s Tate Modern museum is in a former power house that sat empty for years. The Union Station property isn’t on that same scale, but it’s still an important and rare example of Art Moderne architecture in Chicago.”
Source: Chicago Union Station’s iconic power house faces unclear future – Curbed Chicago
The thoughtful restoration and adaptive reuse of the historic structure features 57 oversized, modern lofts market-rate units – boasting more than 280, 8-foot by 10-foot windows to provide each unit with expansive views and an abundance of natural light – of which 39 of the units are affordable.
Source: Adaptive Reuse and Restoration of a Historic Building Features 57 Modern Lofts
Above: Lincoln Union, built in 1970, is located at 475 E. Lincoln St. in the Phoenix warehouse district and was a former refrigerated distribution center owned by Pearce Beverage Co., which was the first Coors distributor in the Valley.
Adaptive reuse is making a big impact on commercial real estate and likely will for several years to come. According to the Urban Land Institute’s Emerging Trends in Real Estate (2019), the repurposing trend is likely to continue over the next decade. As real estate professionals, we had better be prepared to adapt.
Source: Here’s how adaptive reuse has impacted Valley real estate | AZ Big Media
COURTESY EXPENSIFY
“It’s an incredible opportunity for not only historic preservation, but also adaptive reuse,” says Atwood. The Portland, Oregon, office of fintech platform Expensify is housed in the 100-year-old First National Bank. There’s no denying that it’s a 21st-century office, but many of the original design elements remain intact.
Stan Bullard
Once the home of a leading national maker of horse blankets, the former National Blanket Building on Cleveland’s West Side could be repurposed as affordably priced apartments for families.
“We’re afraid bricks may fall from it,” he said of the three-story factory dating from 1890 that was expanded until it covers a city block. He’s excited, though, because plans to renovate it to new use are taking shape. “It will mean a lot for the neighborhood in terms of morale because it’s the largest building here and it’s been vacant so long,” León said, “in addition to the economic benefit of it being put back into use.”
Source: Rehab/reuse project is warming up for old blanket factory
K.C. Conway offered the keynote speech at the 15th Anniversary of the Puerto Rico Chapter of the CCIM Institute celebrated in La Concha Hotel in San Juan. >Courtesy CCIM
From the start, Conway pointed out that the OZ and the adaptive reuse of old and unused structures could lead to a much-needed investment push that could help the U.S. territory find its way out of recession.
Source: A Pathway to Puerto Rico’s Recovery | Business | theweeklyjournal.com
“What we hadn’t planned on was the opportunity to not only create a dream space, but to participate in preserving a former church that may have otherwise been knocked down to make way for more heinous condo boxes,” says Mike. For the project, he also won the Grand Jury Award for Adaptive Reuse of an existing building by the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia.
Source: See How This Historic Church Got Its Second Life as a Tattoo Shop | Architectural Digest
The grain elevator — the last in the county — remains, and an old scale serves as the front patio, Wild Goose really shines by continuing to connect rural residents through coffee and food.
Source: The best examples of adaptive reuse in Colorado from restaurants to bars
There are barn conversions, and then there’s Noble Barn – a redbrick dairy shed that raises the bar on adaptive reuse in the UK’s Berkshire.
Source: Inside a converted Arts & Crafts barn in the Berkshire countryside – The Spaces
Jami Lloyd, Architectural Designer and A M King Blog Author
Scarcity of land; ample building inventory; reinvention of retail; rising construction costs; labor challenges; new regulations; environmental and schedule benefits; and resource-intensive procurement associated with virgin materials builds a strong case for adaptive reuse.
Source: An Adaptive Reuse Solution in Today’s Overbuilt Environment – GroundBreak Carolinas
Now open, Rust and Shine Unique Shopps, 600 Cemetery Street, Williamsport. Carrie Pauling
Rust and Shine is a delightful and surprising collection of vendor shops in 12,000 square feet of space in the former Raytown factory building attached to the Pajama Factory in Williamsport’s west end.
Source: Rust and Shine: New retail shopping venue in Williamsport | Business | northcentralpa.com
The 21c Museum Hotel in Durham.
Photo by Chris Cooper. Image courtesy of 21c Museum Hotels.
MICHAEL PRONZATO / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Though still months away from being heard — or even enacted — Squilla’s bills mark significant progress for Philadelphia, which, despite having the second-most number of buildings constructed before 1945 in the U.S., has struggled to encourage developers to restore old and interesting buildings.
Source: Councilman Squilla introduces bills to make it easier to reuse Philadelphia’s historic buildings
Built in 1922, the former Agudas Achim Synagogue in Uptown stopped operating as a religious institution in 2008 — a decade later, it was renovated and turned into chic residential housing units. Synagogue Flats opened in March 2019.- Original Credit: Flats (Flats)
The perks of living in a former religious institution range from the aesthetics to the memorable moments. Currey said she still bumps into people who either went to church at her property as kids or attended weddings there.
Relative to new construction, renovation generally has a higher proportion of labor expense and a lower proportion of material expense. According to the Green Lab report, historic rehabilitation has a 32-year track record of creating two million jobs and generating $90 billion in private investment. These are by no means small numbers, and they reinforce the value of reusing, rather than tearing down, existing buildings.
Source: |
A view of the site of the proposed Mystic River Boathouse Park off of Greenmanville Avenue in Mystic.
O’Neill also noted the new direction for the boathouse would satisfy those who feel the project would benefit from a more historical maritime approach. The site falls within the Rossie Velvet Mill Historic District and contains two buildings classified as “contributing resources” to the historic district.
With a secure home in hand, the Playhouse undertook a plan to transform the outdated building into a fully dedicated theater.
A halfpipe occupies the nave of the former St. Liborius Catholic Church in Old North St. Louis. The church has been converted into SK8 Liborious in recent years. RNS photo by Bill Motchan
St. Liborius Roman Catholic Church in Old North St. Louis, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was once called the “Cathedral of the North Side.” More recently, the massive structure has been appreciated on social media as “the sickest, gnarliest place ever.”
Source: In St. Louis, former houses of worship are retooled to meet the city’s needs – Religion News Service
Last month, Duke Energy moved about 400 employees into its 83,000 square-foot space at Optimist Hall, a renovated former textile mill near NoDa and Optimist Park. Katherine Peralta KPERALTA@CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
Corporations are moving into rehabbed warehouses for similar reasons restaurants are — for the trendy atmosphere. “Developers want to do a cool project. It’s not just about making money,” Klenk said.
Source: Old factories in Charlotte are being turned into restaurants | Charlotte Observer
Rendering via Two Trees
The design will include a barrel-vaulted glass roof inserted into the brick factory building.
Source: Bracing Goes Up at the Historic Domino Sugar Refinery | Brownstoner
The developers set their Los Angeles outpost for the NoMad hotel franchise in the former Bank of Italy, also from the 20s.
These buildings are, of course, compelling because you want to keep them alive and give people reasons to come see them, and certainly you can’t build them today; it wouldn’t be cost-effective. The art of it is finding buildings where you have a response that makes sense, because I always say: If you fight with the building, the building is gonna win.
Source: The Hospitality Industry Is Stepping Up to Reuse Historic Buildings
Great Lakes Brewing Company
Image blending an image from the late 1970s or early 1980s showing the site of the GLBC facility. The current brewpub, in color, is overlaid on top of the original property, which is in black and white. Interestingly, the Lloyd & Keys advertisement on the wall is still visible today, something GLBC’s Pat Conway always references as a “meaningful coincidence.”
But as in many areas across the country, Ohio City is a prime example of craft breweries helping spur redevelopment of various pockets of Northeast Ohio by breathing new life into neighborhoods and repurposing old buildings that have sat empty for years.
“I’m more interested in diving a bit deeper, understanding the real history behind these abandoned spaces, and understanding how a ruin can be preserved and transformed into something altogether new. And I’m interested in the people behind these efforts, which are never easy—going well beyond the developers and architects that tend to get most of the credit.”
Source: Interview: Dan Barasch on Ruin and Redemption in Architecture – COOL HUNTING
Waterstone Properties Group, will transform the old Blue Rock Quarry near the town of Westbrook, Maine, into a 2-million-square foot mixed use village. Wakefield Beasley & Associates, courtesy of Waterstone Properties Group
Rock Row, a project of Waterstone Properties Group, will transform the old Blue Rock Quarry near the town of Westbrook, Maine, into a 2-million-square foot mixed use village including a temporary amphitheater, retail space, and a 25,000-square-foot beer hall.
Source: Rock Row: Gravel quarry in Portland, Maine, getting second life as walkable urban village – Curbed
Douglas fir steps with amphitheater seating ascend from the entry to the cafeteria. Photography by Connie Zhou.
Google and ZGF Architects had already worked together on six projects, but this would be the largest effort that either had ever undertaken in the realm of adaptive reuse. “The outcome was unknown when we embarked on the project,” Google project executive R.G. Kahoe says. “But we knew we could do something amazing, a moon-shot idea, as well as being the correct stewards for the building.”
Source: Google’s New LA Office Takes Flight Thanks to Hangar Transformation by ZGF Architects
Nomad Pizza (Princeton, New Jersey) Photo: Courtesy of Nomad Pizza/Michael Slack
These venues are not only serving great food but they also are retaining much of their original gas station architecture, too.
Source: These are America’s 7 Most Beautiful Gas Station Conversions – Architectural Digest
Dating back to 1910, the building rises 12 storeys and encompasses just over 126,000 square feet (11,706 square metres).
The team sought to preserve original elements where possible, such as high ceilings, wooden flooring and ornate detailing.
Source: Fogarty Finger revamps New York office with glass and cosy wood
[Photo: Stijn Bollaert/courtesy Civic Architects]
The design is an extraordinary example of adaptive reuse, transforming a decaying industrial building for constructing and storing trains into a place for learning and storing books–while retaining the existing industrial materials, flaws and all.
The building housing trains in 1939. [Photo: courtesy Civic Architects]
Source: LocHal is a gorgeous library in an old train warehouse
Exterior of the Stehli Silk Mill off Martha Avenue. LNP Photo
“People are under a misconception that the property is run down. That’s not the case. The bones are solid. The roof was 100 percent replaced,” he said.
This space was originally outfitted by acclaimed Parisian industrial designer Raymond Loewy, the mind behind the 1955 Coca-Cola contour bottle, the 1959 TWA twin globes logo, the 1963 Studebaker Avanti, and the 1962 Air Force One livery. Max Touhey
To access the guest rooms, patrons enter through space-age flight tubes—which you may remember from the film Catch Me If You Can. Clean lines meet a touch of glam in the rooms, which feature leather upholstery; a pop of primary color; Hollywood-style vanities; and custom walnut, brass, and glass details.
Source: The TWA Hotel Turns an Abandoned Airport Terminal Into a Midcentury Dream – Dwell
Mark Nichols, a Portland-based remodeler, works on framing the second floor walls of the Blair Building in downtown Washougal, in October 2016. The upper level of the historic building on Main Street has been transformed into four studio apartments with modern amenities. (Contributed photo courtesy of Heidi Kramer)
Local couple Bruce and Heidi Kramer spent three years rebuilding the second floor of a nearly 100-year-old structure known as the Blair Building.
Source: Building the Blair Lofts | Camas-Washougal Post-Record
“The most destructive thing is to demolish a building” says Nicholas Grimshaw
Grimshaw’s new Via Verde development will also offer adaptable homes. Photo is by Esto
“I’ve got very passionate about it lately. I’ve even suggested that when architects submit a building for planning permission they should be asked to suggest ways in which it can be used for alternative things in the future,” he continued. “The more of that that goes on in the world, the better place the world will be.”
Source: Nicholas Grimshaw interview on reusing buildings and micro homes