The Benefits of Adaptive Reuse
Author
Peter Grimm
When considering retrofitting an existing building, one might wonder, why choose to undertake a project with almost guaranteed uncertainty when the option to design and construct a new building on the same site exists? We know the likely challenges that will arise—remediation of toxic building elements, code requirement upgrades, accessibility improvements—and yet, even after weighing the risks, our designers and clients still enthusiastically endorse adaptive reuse. Over the last 26 years, Scott Edwards Architecture has completed more than 100 adaptive reuse projects for a wide variety of clients and project types, and when our teams reflect on past projects, these are often some of our most talked about.
In this piece, we explore the advantages of creating new uses from existing building stock, what building types make good candidates for reuse, and present case studies illustrating the unique benefits of adaptive reuse. We look below the surface-level considerations and identify the four primary benefits that often outweigh the risks and ultimately, make a compelling case for this approach to development.
The Chehalem Cultural Center is housed in what was a brick depression-era elementary school, originally built in 1935 as a Works Progress Administration project. SEA’s adaptive reuse balanced preserving the building’s historic charm and modernizing it for contemporary uses. Reused materials accentuate special points within the renovated building, such as entry alcoves and wood accent screens flanking the main entry and reception window. We also modernized the systems, preserving the building for generations to come.
Benefit #1: The Story
Often in a crowded marketplace, developers are looking for an authentic story to tell to connect their building or campus back to the rooted history of a place, a neighborhood, a City, or even a region. New buildings can certainly take cues from the past to create a brand based on place, but the true historic fabric can connect building users to that past and bring it into the present in a way that resonates authentically. Great examples of this include adaptive reuse projects we’ve worked on in Portland’s Central City, and in particular the Central Eastside, involving former industrial uses. These buildings housed industrial activities including metal stamping factories, electroplating facilities, a furniture factory, warehouses, a post office, a wire rope distribution hub, and a sawmill. In each of these projects, elements of the former uses were highlighted and woven into the story of that place in a way that cannot be duplicated any other way.
In many of these cases, we salvaged equipment or structural elements from the existing building and integrated them into the design experience for the new users, helping to write a new chapter of the building’s story by continuing some throughlines. Several of these new uses are for creative workplace design, so office workers can draw inspiration from their immediate surroundings to further inspire their creative efforts. In a market with high office vacancy, cultivating an attractive atmosphere with unreplicable elements can help an office be more desirable for tenants and users alike. Similarly, the placement of food, beverage, and event spaces in these buildings has resulted in a unique and memorable experience for larger groups of people—standing out in the competitive realm of hospitality is tough to do, and we’ve certainly seen how adaptive reuse can help do that.
Case Study
Blue Point Brewing Company was established in 1998 as one of Long Island, New York’s first craft breweries. After nearly two decades in its original location, a cluster of small marina warehouses in the village of Patchogue, they had outgrown the space and needed to relocate. SEA collaborated with Blue Point to renovate a former department store into a state-of-the-art experiential brewery and company headquarters. The design stays true to our client’s marina origins while also providing the operations and hospitality infrastructure needed for their expanded business. The decision to adaptively reuse a former department store was inspired by their desire to stay in Patchogue and contribute to a community they love. By revitalizing the existing 100,000 sf building we were able to build a cultural anchor point for the village’s west end and start a new chapter for the site, which has a rich history. The department store was built on the site after a lace curtain manufacturing mill built in the 1850s was destroyed in a fire. The iconic clock tower from the mill was rebuilt with the department store and SEA used some of the original bricks in the new tasting room.
Benefit #2: The Texture
By taking a finer look at what these buildings can offer, we often find opportunities to highlight materials and textures that are very difficult, if not impossible, to recreate with a new build. Examples of this include poured-in-place concrete shear walls, timber trusses, car decking, hand-forged and riveted metal fire doors and hardware, vintage lighting, and other historic elements of older building stock that can be left exposed, carefully cleaned, and celebrated. This approach illustrates the building craft of the era in a way that also cannot be easily duplicated today without great expense.
It’s worth noting here that the quality of the building stock often determines whether or not that building and site are a good candidate for adaptive reuse versus demolishing and building new. Projects with clear, simple, evocative structure and form make the best candidates, and it’s SEA’s philosophy that some of the best retrofits involve us getting out of the way and letting the original building express its essential character without modifications.
Case Study
Water Tower is an iconic building in Portland’s John’s Landing neighborhood. It was built in 1903 as a furniture warehouse for the Portland/Biltwell Furniture Company and since that time has evolved to be a mixed-use office and retail complex. Scott Edwards Architecture’s renovation design focused on preserving elements of the building’s past, like heavy timber beams and its namesake water tower—a renowned structure in the city—while updating the space for modern tenancy needs. Inside Water Tower, beams are salvaged and repurposed as furniture for use both inside and outside the building. Solid interior walls are replaced with full-height windows allowing natural daylight to flow throughout the commercial space, and SEA’s approach uncovers and elevates the historic texture that makes this building unique.
Benefit #3: The Environment
SEA demonstrates expertise in all the major environmental certification programs, including LEED, Energy Star, Earth Advantage, and the Living Building Challenge. In all of these programs, one of the simplest and greatest opportunities to lower the environmental impact of a project in an urban site is to reuse an existing building shell. The amount of embodied carbon contained in the wood, steel, concrete, and glass of the original building, along with the utilities, services, and transportation options that already serve a developed urban site, far outweigh the costs of building with new materials on an undeveloped site. Additionally, we have often found ways to repurpose and/or recycle much of the construction waste for adaptive reuse projects, further reducing the overall impact on the immediate environment.
Case Study
Custom Blocks is a 2 city block adaptive reuse project located in Portland’s Central Eastside. The buildings were previously occupied by Custom Stamping and Manufacturing Co., a company that stamped, cut, and bent an array of metal products for over 50 years. SEA’s approach was to transform this former industrial campus into a modern, vibrant employment center while preserving the industrial character and forms of the historic property. Retaining the industrial elements required extensive cleaning and sealing of the time-worn equipment and structure, but the effort was well worth the outcome. Alongside the decision to adaptively reuse rather than demolish and build new, the design incorporates several other sustainable features including all-new insulated windows, plenty of natural daylight, and increased natural ventilation. The result is a quiet, comfortable, high-performing series of workspaces—including Roundhouse Agency, pictured as this piece’s header image—surrounded by elements of the industrial past.
Benefit #4: The Bottom Line
Developers continue to come to us with new ideas for adaptive reuse projects largely because when we factor in all of the aforementioned benefits, it translates into an increased value for the project and a good return for both investors and those using the space. In short, people recognize the enhanced value of adaptively reused buildings as touchstones in the community and want to help continue their story. The net result for people working, living, and visiting these rich textured spaces rooted in history, yet featuring an enhanced interior environment that is thermally and visually comfortable, is an unforgettable experience that is hard to replicate any other way.
Case Study
Before its adaptive reuse into an event space, Castaway Portland was a steel smelting and refining company, and even before that, a wire rope distribution warehouse originally built in the 1920s. Scott Edwards Architecture’s design carefully restored the original wood post and beam roof structure, expressing the building’s industrial texture, and incorporated large roll-up doors connecting the interior with the historic loading dock, allowing people to flow into the adjacent garden terraces. The adaptive reuse also included a new floor slab and a seismic retrofit to ensure the venue can safely support up to 975 people. Castaway Portland has become one of the most sought-after creative event spaces in the city—shortly after opening, it was awarded Best New Wedding Venue in Portland by Oregon Bride Magazine, and from 2014 - 2022, was named as the publication’s “Best Urban Venue,” signaling the desire for refined warehouse event spaces achieved through adaptive reuse.
