#adaptive-reuse

#adaptive-reuse

There is growing awareness around sustainability-and the environmental cost of prematurely demolishing safe, structurally sound buildings only to replace them with new construction. In the broader race to reduce carbon emissions, corporations and institutions are placing greater emphasis on ESG performance (environmental impact, social responsibility, and governance). Many now require carbon accounting, set " carbon-neutral" targets, or purchase carbon credits to offset footprints.

This 18th-century vernacular farmhouse in Naxxar's historic core had been abandoned for over 50 years. Once a working farm and family dwelling, it had fallen into serious disrepair. Organised around a central courtyard and divided into three wings, the property retained significant heritage features, stone slab ceilings, timber beams, xulliel walls, arches, and a large mill room, but its fragmentation and poor condition made it unsuitable for modern family life.

Boston has granted building permits to another office-to-housing conversion, this time in the South End. Developers are converting a former office building at 615 Albany St. into 24 apartments as part of the city's effort to transform underused commercial space into much-needed housing. It is one of 19 projects participating in Boston's office-to-residential incentive program, which aims to revitalize downtown by replacing outdated offices with homes.

Last year, nearly 25,000 apartments were completed via adaptive reuse, up 50% compared to 2023 and double the amount of such conversions in 2022. A record-breaking 180,585 apartments from adaptive reuse projects are in various stages of development across the nation, mostly from office spaces up 19% compared to last year, according to RentCafe. This strong redevelopment activity indicates that major cities are actively transforming underperforming properties, revitalizing neighborhoods and continuing to adapt to the era of remote work, per the report.

Jinwan Aviation New City, one of Zhuhai's fastest-growing areas, urgently needed a new community center to meet the demands of its expanding population. The site, located in the heart of this new district, consisted of four standalone ancillary buildings surrounded by dense housing developments. However, due to rushed planning, these buildings suffered from design flaws: closed facades, disconnected circulation, and a lack of functional synergy.

Pol Viladoms + 7 City: Avinyonet de Puigventos More SpecsLess Specs Pol Viladoms Text description provided by the architects. Forn Lleva't is the transformation of an old warehouse on Carrer dels Fossos, in the historic center of Avinyonet de Puigventos, into an artisanal bakery that revives the town's bread-making tradition and restores its social and cultural role. More than a simple renovation, the project is conceived as a sensitive reading of placean architecture that listens, interprets, and supports rather than imposes.

Now, Volhard is a partner in an international commercial law firm and commutes between Frankfurt, Paris, and London. But he also studied architecture at the ETH Zurich and 25 years ago, he founded , an online magazine and platform for architecture and design products. It proved to be an invaluable resource at a time when most people in Germany were still leafing through thick catalogs in architecture offices when it came time to source products.

The architectural language is quiet but confident. A flat roof stretches outward, forming generous overhangs that temper the desert sun while framing long horizontal lines against the open sky. Beneath it, warm Douglas fir eaves run continuously from exterior to interior, creating a seamless ribbon of wood that guides the eye and softens the transition between architecture and nature. It's this gesture, simple, fluid, and tactile, that anchors the design.

This week in architecture, global recognitions and new unveilings underscored the field's growing commitment to climate awareness, cultural continuity, and adaptive reuse. From Expo 2025 Osaka's closing ceremonies to international award announcements, the focus turned to architects and designers redefining the relationship between place, material, and community. Alongside these recognitions, major new projects, from Dubai to California, illustrated how design continues to evolve across scales: shaping cities, preserving heritage, and addressing urgent global challenges through context-driven architecture.

Located within the rear zone of Haydarpaşa Train Station, these five new buildings are positioned over the traces of existing, obsolete structures that had reached the end of their lifespan. The buildings and the open spaces between them have been designed with a delicate effort to preserve these former traces. This sensitivity arises from the fact that the project site lies adjacent to an important archaeological area that has been gradually unearthed over many years-an

In the village is a collection of 13 buildings that were previously used as a training centre for France Télecom. When the centre closed, they were bought by a local couple who created Street Art City, the world's only street art theme park. The collection of old buildings now forms an extraordinary canvas - 22,000 square metres, entirely covered in street art.

Aranya North Shore Community Sports Center is located in Qinhuangdao, a three-hour drive from Beijing, situated within the riverside area of the Aranya Ninth Phase project. The site was originally a relatively underdeveloped industrial land. The architects aimed to establish a contextual foundation for the site by drawing on traceable fragments of collective architectural memory, transforming the building into a medium connecting the past with present-day life and providing the community with a rooted public space.

Herzog & de Meuron, together with Marge Arkitekter, propose Under samma tak (Under the Same Roof) for Göteborg's new arena district in Sweden, a future-oriented, experience-driven landmark designed to evolve with the city. The project is designed to accommodate civic life and large-scale events, integrating urban rhythm, collective spaces, and sustainable design strategies through adaptive transformation, circular construction, and ambitious climate goals.

What was once a laundromat is now becoming a stage, a classroom, and a canvas for the neighborhood,

Christ & Gantenbein realizes the exhibition design for Paris Internationale 2023-2024 at Poste Bergère-Trudaine, following their work on the 2022 edition of the independent art fair known for its nomadic character and commitment to spatial reuse. The architects propose a system of walls instead of boxes, replacing enclosed booths with open partitions that subtly guide circulation, creating visual and spatial permeability, and inviting chance encounters between visitors, artworks, and galleries.

From Restroom to Waystation - In recent years, our studio has designed a series of small-scale public restrooms through various competitions and commissions. These designs have incorporated varying degrees of public functions-such as rest areas for sanitation workers, auxiliary spaces, and vending areas-continually transforming the conventional concept of restroom spaces across different contexts. For this project, the client initially requested event storage space for Luke Island.

Originally constructed in 1966, the Cracker building, by NOMAL, reflects a period of rapid urban growth in . Beginning as a two-story structure, it was gradually expanded with additional masonry and lightweight steel floors. These extensions, added without coherent planning, created structural instability, with several columns even extending beyond the property boundary. Zoning regulations and parking requirements ruled out demolition and new construction, making renovation the only viable path.

The top loft of the 1903 cast-iron Soho building hadn't been touched in three decades. The renovation would need to be significant. But there was one feature designer Maurizio Bianchi Mattioli intended to preserve: a 30-foot-long south-facing ­window installed by the previous owner. "We were very lucky to have the lot-line windows," ­Mattioli says. "You don't typically see them from the sidewalk." A young couple, Josephine and Alex de Pfyffer, an art dealer and an ­entrepreneur, respectively, hired Mattioli, the founder of Studio MBM,

The Wind H Art Center in the 751 District was converted from an industrial factory and its office buildings.

Developed by COIMA and designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the project has been envisioned as both a temporary residence for athletes and a long-term urban asset for the city. Delivered in 30 months and ahead of schedule, the Village is located within the Porta Romana railway yard, and comprises six new residential buildings and the restoration of two historic structures: the former Squadra Rialzo locomotive workshop

Lead Architects: Architects MAA Emilie Boye Kjær (ApS), Ebbe Lavsen (Hahn Lavsen) and Frederik Koefoed (Verna) under the curation of Architect MAA Sidsel Gelting Hodge and Art historian and PhD Marianne Krogh. The Chapel Retold: A quiet transformation - A group of Danish architects, artists, and artisans has temporarily taken over a former funeral chapel and garden.