Remøy, H and Van Der Voordt, T (2014) Adaptive reuse of office buildings into housing: Opportunities and risks. Building Research & Information, 42(3), pp. 381-390. ISSN 0961-3218
Abstract
One way of adapting and reusing vacant office buildings is conversion into housing. Former research has shown possibilities for this type of conversion, and has delivered instruments for determining the conversion potential of vacant offices. Although adaptation and renovation of outdated offices can prove to be a successful property (real estate) strategy, conversions into housing still only occur on a small scale. There are several reasons for this, including uncertainty about financial feasibility and little knowledge about the opportunities and risks of building conversions. A meta-study of the conversion of 15 office buildings into housing in the Netherlands is used to reveal the drivers for office-to-housing conversions as well as the opportunities and risks that arise in the conversion process. The findings show that various legal, financial, technical, functional and architectonic issues define the opportunities and risks of building conversions. These insights can be used to support the decision-making processes for dealing with vacant office buildings in order to minimize the risks and increase the opportunities.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | adaptation; conversion; entrepreneurial activity; housing market; obsolescence; office buildings; redundant buildings; reuse |
| Index terms: | adaptation, obsolescence, real estate, decision-making process, conversion, office building, renovation, Netherlands, strategy, housing, small scale, adaptive reuse |
| Subjects: | asset management, renovation and retrofit, management, real estate economics, user focus, production management, decision analysis, construction type, sustainable design, manufacturing engineering, Geography |
| Topics: | Engineering Principles, Sustainability, Design Practice, Risk Management, Urban Studies, Geographical Context, Business Strategy, Construction Technology, Project Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 2 PC |
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