Adaptive reuse

Adaptive reuse, in Turkish yeniden işlevlendirme, keeps a building alive by giving it a new use after it has lost its original function or fallen empty. Turning a caravanserai into a hotel, a hammam into an exhibition space, a factory into a cultural centre or a mansion into a museum are all examples. An unused building decays quickly; a well-chosen use keeps maintenance going and reconnects the building with the life of the city.

Choosing a compatible use

The key to successful adaptive reuse is a use the building can carry. A few questions come first:

• Can the new use work with the original plan, room sizes and structure without major change?
• Can services, wet areas, lifts and escape routes be added without harm and in a reversible way?
• Are occupancy and loads within what the building can bear?
• Can new additions be designed to harmonise with the original while remaining distinguishable from it?

Adaptive reuse in the restoration project

Adaptive reuse takes concrete form in the third stage after survey and restitution, as the restoration project develops proposals for the new use. For listed buildings in Turkey the project goes to the relevant regional heritage board for approval. Every addition should be conceived so that it can be removed later, and services fixed to original surfaces kept to a minimum. Architectural visualization prepared to explain the new use to investors, boards and users shows, at decision stage, how original fabric and new additions will sit together.