Adaptive Reuse (AR) of heritage buildings is a sustainable approach to preserving cultural heritage while accommodating new functions. Despite the growing importance of AR in the last decades, a lack of comprehensive models for AR, particularly concerning heritage buildings, persists. This research addresses this gap by developing a model that guides architects in the AR process, drawing on international literature and Dutch AR practices, with a focus on its adaptation and possible application in the Iranian context.

A systematic review of the literature revealed a lack of overarching models for AR, and led to the development of a conceptual model. This model includes 10 steps, which are: “initiative”, “analysis of the building and its surroundings”, “value assessment”, “mapping the level of significance”, “adaptive reuse potential (function)”, “defining the design strategy”, “final decision-making”, “execution”, “aftercare and maintenance”, and “evaluation after years”. In addition, based on the analysis of 48 award-winning AR projects in the Netherlands and Europe, six key criteria for effectiveness were identified: sublimation-architectural aspects, sublimation-cultural aspects, social value creation, environmental sustainability, economic value creation, and innovation aspects.
Testing the initial model in the Dutch context, led to further development into the EARHB model, enriched with methods and tools used by the architect in the different steps of the AR process. In this dissertation, the EARHB model, including its methods and tools, is referred to as the EARHB framework.

Research on Iranian AR projects and interviews with architects demonstrate the EARHB framework’s potential, confirming that some of its process steps, methods, and tools are in use. Some limitations, due to cultural, regulatory, and practical constraints, might affect full implementation of the framework in Iran. Nevertheless, the potentialities of the proposed EARHB framework, offering a comprehensive and adaptable approach for enhancing the effectiveness of AR projects in different context worldwide, are confirmed.@en

The Koudenhorn police building is located in the historic inner city of Haarlem. It sits on the western bank of the Spaarne river, along which runs one of the main traffic arteries of the city. To the north the plot is defined by the wide canal of the Nieuwe Gracht. The narrow Zakstraat runs along the southern side. Due to its current function, accessibility to the public is very limited and the courtyard is scarcely utilized.

Haarlems central library is struggling with overdue maintenance, poor energy efficiency, an outdated spatial layout and a lack of space to make major changes. Relocating to the Koudenhorn building provides the space to create the desired future-proof library. The building is large enough to house more than a library. In order to alleviate some pressure from the housing market, additional dwellings will be realized. They are connected to the library though programme and the courtyard, which offers spaces for appropriation by visitors and residents alike.

Concluding from case study research, buildings with a courtyard or central space can be defined using different typologies for the aspects of central space, spatial organization, entrances, routing and daylight. These typologies are the leading principles in understanding and redeveloping the Koudenhorn building.

The new central library is organized around four vertical access points. In between are the areas housing the library’s core programme, as well as additional public facilities such as the cafe and auditorium. The repetition of small compartments remaining from the use as a police station are maintained and used for closed stacks. Structurally, two important interventions are done to be able to carry the load of the library collection. Within the central space of the north wing, the interior load-bearing structure is replaced up to the second floor. This allows for the creation of vertical connections through voids and a landscape of stairs. A new load-bearing structure is added on top of the existing structure of small compartments in order to support the library floors above.

The new entrance to the library is situated in the original dining hall. A new entrance square will lead up to the level of the entrance hall. Bicycle and car parking are situated in the existing basement and ground floor structure of the building extension underneath. The square acts as a transitional space, extending the library’s sphere of influence and allowing for a more gradual approach to the building.

The design aims to create an accessible, inclusive library offering multiple different spatial experiences, focusing on connection over collection. An urban living room facilitating the needs of various users, with the courtyard as a connector between the two programmes.

After a large reorganisation within the police organisation, due to the formation of the Dutch National Police, the demand for real estate for the police is greatly reduced. Additionally, the requirements for the buildings are also changing. Therefore, in the upcoming years, about 700.000 square meters of police real estate will lose its function. During this graduation process, the possibilities for adaptive reuse for one of these police buildings, Huis ‘t Velde in Warnsveld, have been researched.

In order to work with Huis ‘t Velde, it was necessary to have a look at another group of buildings as well, besides the police buildings, namely country houses. A lot of country houses have lost their function as a private home during the course of the 20th century, among others because of the rising costs of maintenance of these relatively large buildings, and the surrounding estates. This makes the research and design for the adaptive reuse of Huis ‘t Velde even more relevant, since the findings might also be helpful for other country houses.
Most of the country houses have shown a strong development over time. They have different time layers, and each time layer has it’s own story. But nowadays most users aren’t aware of this. This led to the following research and design question: How can the architect integrate the stories behind the layers of time in Huis ‘t Velde in the adaptive redesign process in order to make these stories experienceable for future users?

In the research, 3 cases studies were researched, among others via a analysis matrix. From this, 3 main strategy’s of dealing with these time layers in the adaptive redesign process were found. But, an additional conclusion was that these 3 strategies were never used on their own, but in combination.

Therefore, in the design, different combinations were tested until a fitting combination was found for Huis ‘t Velde. An addition has been designed to the building as a new time layer. In the existing building parts, the most important, characteristic time layers were either conserved or reconstructed.

The need for housing is still a relevant problem in the Netherlands, part of this problem is assigned to elderly while they often stay in their current housing situation for a long time and only move when they are in need for housing with additional health care. However, the actual problem, which is also visible in the city of Haarlem is that there is a lack of suitable elderly housing and often the elderly housing that is available is experienced as not attractive enough to move to before people are indeed in need for housing with additional care facilities.

In the upcoming years, around 700.000 square meters of police real estate will be divested and 30% of the real estate of the police is in need for redevelopment. Atelier Politiebouwmeester provided us with the assignment to look into the possibilities of several of their buildings for in the future.

One of this buildings is the Koudenhorn in Haarlem, a large building covering an entire urban block in the inner city of Haarlem. The disconnection of this building with the surrounding public space caught the attention and raised questions on how this building would function if it would have a public use.
This combined led to the following research- and design question: How could the Koudenhorn building in Haarlem be transformed into elderly housing that includes public accessible functions to stimulate social interaction both amongst the inhabitants of the building and with the neighborhood?

A research into the topic of public interiors, public space and porosity resulted in eight architectural focus points that influence the public character of interior or enclosed spaces. Analyzing the focus points in a case study research resulted in strategies for each focus point that can be tested and implemented during the design process.

Within the re-design of the Koudenhorn, the courtyard of the building is added to the pedestrian network of the city. Collective spaces such as a dining hall, music studio and library and public accessible functions such as a sport facility and makerspace are added to the various typologies of elderly housing to create a attractive living environment for elderly within a building that contributes to its surroundings.

The graduation project proposes the transformation of the police headquarters in the Hague, into a mixed-use development, including an IT university, co-working spaces, apartments, along with a public library and other facilities that encourage the interaction between the building users and locals, forming innovative knowledge clusters across the community. The project aims to explore, both through research and design, the role of structure in the adaptability of former 20th century Dutch police stations. The subject of investigation was decided with the realization that structure constitutes an essential element of an existing building whose potential needs to be thoroughly identified in order to transform it for future uses. The research contributed to the design by pointing out the influence of structure in terms of spatial organization, qualities, and form of existing buildings. As an ultimate aim, the proposal aspires to inform future projects using standardized and factory produced elements about the design possibilities in existing office buildings. Finally, the biggest challenge was to re-introduce a building of such identity, scale and status to its setting, that has been left out of all the activities taking place inside the colossal building complex, ever since it was built.

The Netherlands is facing a severe housing crisis. There is a necessity to create 845.000 new homes due to its growing population by 2030 (NL Times, 2020). According to prognosis (Capital Value, 2020), the housing shortage is greater than recently estimated and will continue to grow. Especially in Groningen, where the Police office building is located, the need for housing is one of the greatest in the Netherlands (Dutch review, 2021).
In Groningen, the housing crisis influences rising property and rental prices. Consequently, it affects young people or families who cannot afford to buy property while students cannot find a place to live in general (Dutch review, 2021).
The transformation of the National Police in the Netherlands in 2013 brought new possibilities for urban redevelopment in particular city areas. Those possibilities could help tackle previously mentioned problems. Around 700,000 m2 of current real estate of the National Police will be divested in the upcoming ten years (HA Lab, 2021, p.5). Around 30% of real estate objects owned by the police in the Netherlands need to be redeveloped considering renovations or functional adaptation.
Building more houses is one of the ways to tackle the housing crisis, but it is crucial to understand that there is a possibility to transform an existing building into housing instead of solely building new ones. The design proposal for Vacant Police heritage in Groningen city aims to cope with previously mentioned social and economic problems. It is important and urgent to understand that adaptive reuse of the building can significantly influence life in the Netherlands.

In the last century, biodiversity has come under increasing pressure, and this is also the case in the urban context. The preservation of biodiversity is an important issue. Research shows that part of this biodiversity is largely dependent on the buildings and vegetation in the city and to help this biodiversity we need to build as nature-inclusive as possible.

There is a wide range of nature-inclusive options that can be applied to make a building and its surroundings more nature-inclusive. The application of nature-inclusive aspects in the design of new buildings is easy and relatively inexpensive due to the blank canvas. However, the aspects are more difficult to integrate into existing buildings. Especially in the case of monumental buildings, where several parameters have to be taken into account. For monumental buildings, it is currently unclear whether, and if so, what needs to be taken into account to make them more nature-inclusive.

The study seeks to answer the following question: ''How can Dutch monumental buildings in an urban context be redesigned to be more nature-inclusive?'' This research is validated with a design. This results in the following
How can the monumental building Koudenhorn in the urban context of Haarlem be redesigned to be more nature-inclusive while retaining its heritage value?
The monumental Koudenhorn building is situated in the urban context of Haarlem. It was built in 1768 as a deacon's house and is currently used by the police. It is a building with a story and many values. At present, the building and the plot show a limited degree of nature inclusiveness.

The research question is answered with a toolbox and three decision trees divided into the categories: flora, water, and fauna. The decision trees provide insight into which nature-inclusive options could be applied to a case and which aspects would need to be adapted to enable implementation. To fill in the decision trees, certain case analyses were carried out. The decision trees were filled in for the monumental part of the Koudenhorn building. This showed which nature-inclusive options are applicable and on which specific elements. Eventually, 17 of these options were applied in the design. The toolbox contains a clear description of what the nature-inclusive option entails, the extra points of interest and an optional design. This toolbox was then used to integrate the application in the redesign of the Koudenhorn building.

The office architecture of the 1970s and 1980s makes up a large part of Dutch office building stock, at about 30%. Most buildings are now in need of major renovation and often no longer correspond to today's aesthetic perception. In addition, the function of the buildings must be adapted to today's needs and technological standards. This is not least due to the rapidly changing world of work, especially after the climax of the Corona pandemic. In order to prevent the possible destruction of buildings or building parts with a potential to become protected heritage, this master project offers a first approach to collecting characteristics of this period for heritage and sustainability reasons. A focus is placed on those that lend themselves to a particularly sustainable strategy, as the study shows that the early sustainability movement of the 1970s also left its mark on the construction methods of the time. The results together with the results of a value assessment are applied to the adaptive re-design of the police building in the Mathildelaan in Eindhoven. Further, aspects with a particular sustainability perspective are incorporated in an extension. In this way, the existing building is integrated into a modern urban context.

In this master thesis project is the topic sustainability in relation to the repurposing of Dutch (rural) estates investigated. Making an estate more sustainable has been researched on the basis of two redesign theories and several case studies. The research question was: ‘how can design approaches help in a contemporary reuse and redesign of a Dutch estate where both building, and nature, contribute to a sustainable design, and in particular for Huis ‘t Velde in Warnsveld?’. This research was conducted in response to the design assignment for the reuse of an estate in Warnsveld, Gelderland. This is done in collaboration with the Dutch Atelier Politie Bouwmeester, who is the current user of the building. The history and values of the existing building are relevant for a redesign. That is why also the history and typology of Dutch estates and in particular Huis 't Velde are examined.

The redesign focused on a repurpose of the monumental buildings and the surrounding area. There is a multifunctional design made with a museum, restaurant, memorial garden and residences. The redesign of the estate is done with an integral approach combining the qualities of the land and the buildings together with the aim to integrate green energy resources to make the estate sustainable for the future.

Huis ‘t Velde is an estate first mentioned in 1326 and located in Warnsveld, in the east of the Netherlands. During the analysis of the building and site it became clear that it fell under a particular typology. Huis ‘t Velde was known as ‘havezate’, a specific type of castle which provided privileges and political rights. It was an ensemble of estate and buildings that evolved over time and was used as fortified house. Many similar buildings are seen across the region and seemed to have various similarities. Often, those havezaten were not publicly accessible, resulting in nescience of the typology among many people. The term ‘havezate’ was often even replaced by ‘kasteel’ or ‘landhuis’, while the definition was not identical. These analysis resulted in the following research- and design question:
How can fourteenth-century havezaten from Het Kwartier van Zutphen be characterized to formulate a building typology and how can this be made experienceable to the public in the re-design of Huis ‘t Velde?

Since the current use of Huis ‘t Velde does not make the typology experienceable, the whole estate and buildings will be re-designed to be publicly accessible. By attracting people and allowing them on the estate and inside the buildings they can become acquainted with the characteristics of the typology and take in the atmosphere that makes it so special. Huis ‘t Velde will host a hotel, with restaurant and wine tasting area, combined with some rental rooms, a shop and various outside spaces like a flower-, vegetable- and monumental garden. The majority of the (spatial) interventions are based on the conducted individual research into havezaten in the area around Zutphen. The results are combined into a design toolbox with interventions to use to make the characteristics of a havezate (more) experienceable to the public. These design tools are implemented and testing in the re-design of Huis ‘t Velde.

The project “(Out of the) Ordinary: towards an intimate portrait of the city” investigates how we can build housing, to accommodate ordinary life, within an industrial site. It gleans and introduces domestic qualities into a large cellulose storage facility in an attempt to reintroduce the industrial site to Maastricht and provide the city with new heritage. The project tackles and questions different dialogues between: old and new, suburbs and industry, material and immaterial, public and private and facades and actors. The design proposal develops a new, more intimate community fostering strong social networks and face-to-face contact. The architecture encourages ordinary life to take place, stimulating: discovery, encounter, appropriation and daily rituals. The thesis becomes a case study for the regeneration of (inter)national industrial sites and is a proposal to the pressing housing shortage.

Urban public spaces are one of the priorities on Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations (2015), in the target 11.7, on universal access to safe, inclusive, and accessible green and public spaces. Urban public spaces provide opportunities for people to meet and interact with the community, contribute to the connection between human and nature and have multiple benefits to human and environmental health. With a rising global population and the largest human migration in history, more than half of the world's population currently lives in urban areas. According to the Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape, this rapid and uncontrolled urbanization can often lead to the loss of public space. Contributing to the loss of public spaces, the digital and technical developments result in increasing mobility and remote patterns of work and consumption. These changes in user behaviour threaten historic urban areaswith loss of population, vacancy, and eminent building degradation that may result in loss of cultural identity. To adapt historic cities towards a sustainable future, it is necessary to focus on the total experience of its users, including the routing and accessible and attractive public spaces. This research aims at developing a methodology for designing user experience-based public spaces as a process to reactivate vacant heritage. It focuses on the case study of the vacant department store V&D Haarlem, built in 1934, and listed as national heritage in the Netherlands. The methodology includes historical analysis, urban analysis, and field observations of the 12 quality criteria for public urban spaces defined by Jan Gehl. The results provide guidelines for integrating user experience in the redesign of public spaces, preparing cities for a sustainable future while conserving its valuable heritage.

This gradation project deals with the adaptive reuse of the vacant heritage V&D department store in Haarlem. Revitalizing the obsolete. Now that these buildings need a transformation, they also need to be more open to the public in order to remain as prominent as they once were. The project is about creating a new mixed-use hub in the city of Haarlem, a place for multiple purposes, where multiple functions come together and where everyone can feel comfortable in the different spatial atmospheres. Which results in a mixed program with cultural, commercial and residential functions combined that connects the building more with its environment and benefits the quality of life in the city. All in all, this project aims to find a solution for these vacant monumental buildings by providing new insights and improving the original building. An adaptive integral reuse project while preserving its historical values is sustainable and economically feasible.

This graduation project deals with the revitalisation of the former V&D department store in Haarlem. The building is transformed into a mixed program, consisting of dwellings and the library of the 21th century. This is not a regular library, on the opposite it is an easily accessible public building which functions as a central meeting place within the city. In this project the main theme is daylight. This varies from the practical side of applying different daylight adjusting measures to the more poetical side of introducing principles (regarding daylight) to influence the perception of spaces.

The shopping street of Alkmaar, the Laat, is in need of a new public function that creates a domain to stay. The vital location of the former department store offers a space directly into the cultural centre of the city, close by terraces, shops, or other amenities. The local culture of the city of Alkmaar has determined the new experience of the former department store. The former department store of Alkmaar is transformed by adding a public passage where markets shape the spatial experience and where local initiatives are situated in a shared food centre.

This gradation project deals with the adaptive re-use of the vacant heritage V&D department store in Leiden. Both the story of the downfall of the V&D and the vacancy of these department stores illustrate a larger problem in the building industry. Because needs and desires in society change rapidly and that is why buildings will become irrelevant or vacant after some time. The result is often demolition of vacant buildings, a pile of waste and the loss of finite materials. Several V&Ds in other cities have already been demolished and made place for new buildings, contributing to the enormous yearly creation of waste in the building sector.

A sustainable alternative to build in an ever changing society and achieve an optimal use of building materials, the circular economy is gaining momentum in both research and design. The Dutch government set the goal to become circular in the Netherlands by 2050, including the building sector. The main focus of circularity in the building sector is on: reduce dependency of raw materials, minimize waste and design for adaptability. But there lies a challenge in applying circularity to existing buildings with monumental values, because you have to deal with a complex existing building.

 

This graduation project is focused on applying principles of the circular economy on the heritage V&D building in Leiden. The redesign researches the possibilities to activate and increase the circular potential of this building with heritage value. In the redesign the former V&D building is transformed into a circular innovation centre where recreational, educational and innovative functions meet and work together on the transition towards the circular economy.

The title ‘a gap in the market’ refers in the first place to the economic importance of the site in the city of Leiden throughout history, because of its function as central marketplace. The vacancy of the V&D building creates literally a gap in the heart of the city of Leiden. But with the new function as a circular innovation center, this building can facilitate the next gap in the market. 

Revitalizing the obsolete. What happens to the traditional twentieth century commercial areas in major Dutch cities in an era where everyone is shopping online? In the historic city centres of Haarlem, Leiden, Dordrecht and Amersfoort for example, many buildings are vacant because traditional retailing is almost impossible. For over a century, the use of the city centre was dictated by commercial activities yet nowadays shopping streets are empty. Shops and department stores are closed, leaving a desolate image. In 2016 V&D (founded 1887) went bankrupt and all their buildings became vacant, leaving a gap of 354.000m2 of retail floor space. These large buildings with clear corporate identities and the smaller retail shops are in urgent need of transformation to secure liveability. The physical void of vacant department stores in historic city centres can be seen as troublesome. The role that department stores played was not limited to commercial activity. Functioning as public interiors, these buildings housed the stage of many casual encounters. It was an extension of the public domain meaning that there was a great social significance to these interiors. With these buildings remaining vacant or with a potential transformation private functions such as dwellings, the quality of the building being a public interior faces a risk of being lost.

While the department stores are in heavy weather, the need for housing is increasing everyday. Redesigning old department stores to be used as housing is a necessary solution. So how to fit appartments in a large building, that is so unfit to be used for housing in its current condition? While researching the V&D department store in Leiden it was confirmed that the building needed thorough changes to adapt to a housing function.To adapt the building for its new function the building block is changed into an open-block structure. Resembling the structure used in most high density urban environments. At the same time this open structure compliments the already existing connection between the Aalmarkt and Breestraat side of the building. While opening up the building it was important to preserve its valuable elements, and where elements were removed or introduced, to relate to the original department store. The result is a building with a stepped open-block structure to balance the amount of light, floorspace and functions. The open structure creates terraces for the apartments which also serve as traffic space. An open public courtyard is introduced on the ground floor, reintroducing the old connection through the building. The inside of the building and the Marsmansteeg get new facades, using materials that relate to the main facade at the Aalmarkt. Using the valuable old V&D store a building is created which mixes public functions and housing in the heart of the city.

Designing 20th century Heritage architectures may differ from those of the past that are being dealt nowadays. Before modernism, the appearance of architecture had more decoration on façade and different style design from contemporary architecture. Since the development of industry and technology, the appearance of today’s architecture is not very different from those of the 20th century. However, the value of buildings is not just aesthetic and historical values. Kuipers and Jonge said in ‘Designing from Heritage’: “In fact, the aging monuments of the Modern Movement have proven to be less flexible in practice when adaptations to new needs are required, than promised by the original designers. The built legacy of the twentieth century demands innovative approaches to heritage analysis in combination with creativity if it is to meet the ‘challenge of change’ it is faced with.” (Kuipers & Jonge, 2017)In other words, the heritage architecture in the future can be designed for different uses based on various values. Therefore, Dordrecht Vroom and Dreesmann could be a good example of ‘Modern Heritage’. Because it had designed by architect Jan Kuijt in the 1931 and it was renovated in 1999 based on public demand. ‘Heritage Park 2.0’ project focused on the cultural-value, use-value, and social-value of Dordrecht V&D department store. The ground floor of the department store is blocking two main squares, Statenplein and Scheffersplein, and before the department store bankrupted, people walked through the ground floor from Statenplein to Scheffersplein as a shortcut. This spatial value exists, although it is less clearly revealed than the visible heritage of the past. Therefore, the graduation project is researched and designed what is the value of Dordrecht V&D buildings that are important to people even after 100 years from now. In particular, people’s interests and uses will change, and the project was carried out with a focus on what attitudes as an architect should renovate heritage buildings. Therefore, this project has been researched and designed with a focus on the values of modern heritage renovation and, in particular, how the public space should be designed in the future. Furthermore, I think that this method of linking research and design can be used as a reference when developing modern heritage in the future.

This graduation project takes place in a vacant heritage building that was a former V&D department store building in the center of Leiden. The studio begins with collective research on the Spatial Building Typology research of the former V&D department stores buildings. The main individual research and design strategy are based on Petzet and Heilmeiyer's (2011)’s strategy of Reduce Reuse Recycle (3R) in approaching heritage building. For the program, the study is based on the Reduce Reuse Recycle Redesign Reimage by (Esty&Winston, 2006). Therefore, keeping the retail identity of the building was chosen to reuse the circulation system and column-defined space character of the building. However, to reuse the building as a whole, a sustainable program that adjusts to today’s needs was adapted to the building which is retail as an offline showroom that directly connects to the office. A library was added as the public part of the building. A reimagined retail building. The redesign of this mixed-use building itself is based on the strategies with green intervention as the spatial language that embodies the principle of Reduce Reuse Recycle strategy.