Adaptive reuse:
Additions Design
Balaces sensitivity to history with boldness Modern reuse, the levels of intervention.
Keun young, Park
ARCH 648 Building Preservation Technology Fall 2010 Instructor: Bob Warden
Contents
1.
Introduction Preservation, Restoration, Rehabiilitation, Reconstuction
2. Adaptive Reuse 3. The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and Addition. 4.
Case studies 1. Octagon building on Roosevelt Island 2. Rooftop addition Falkestrasse, Vienna, Australia 3. Louvre Pyramid, Paris, France
Work cited
5.
Secretary of the Interior’s standards for the treatment of historic properties
Four treatement standards: Preservation the process of applying measures to sustain the existing form, integrity, and materials of an historic property. Restoration: return to its original the process of accurately depicting the form, features and character of a property as it appeared at a particular period of time. To stay true to an era, features added during other periods in the structure’s history must be removed and missing features from the restoration period are reconstructed using all available evidence. Rehabilitation: makes possible a modern use through repair, alterations or additions. the process of making possible a compatible use for a property through repair, alterations or additions to a historic structure while preserving those portions or features which convey its hostorical, cultural, or architectural valuses. This approach is generally preferred by preservationists because it preserves historic fabric from the course of the building’s history and it allows for adaptive use. Reconstruction: when totally demolished. the process of depicting , by means of new construction, the form, features, and detailing of a non-sur viving site, landscape, building, sturucture, or object for the purpose of replicating its appearance at a specific period of time and in its hostoric location.
What is considered to be a historic building?
In order to qualify for designation, a building or other property must be at least 50 years old, must retain a high degree of integrity, and must have some level of historic significance. For example, the building could have played an important role in local, state, or national history, or it could be an excellent example of an architectural style. THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES AND THE SECRETARY OF INTERIOR’S STANDARDS The National Register acknowledges their importance only in terms of their historic significance, which is determined by one or more of four evaluation criteria: “association with events, activities, or patterns in history, association with an important person in history, distinctive design, and potential to yield important information in either prehistory or history” (Shrimpton, 1990).
To make optimal use of an existing property, the methods are characterized in terms of the levels of intervention. ; maintenance >consolidation > stabilization > reconstruction are hierarchically applied to properties in terms of the degrees of their obsolescence. Consequently, the adapted property is intended to obtain characteristics such as “convertibility, dismantlability, expandability, and flexibility” For long-term use, adaptable buildings should be easily changed and reused not only as a whole but also as pieces of materials. This concept introduces environmental concerns to adaptive reuse projects.
(Adaptive) reuse Adaptive reuse is the process of adapting old structures for purposes other than those initially intended. Ideally, such conversions retain the architectural integrity of the building’s exterior while making compatible adaptations to the interior which accommodate the needs of the building’s adaptive use.
The charm of Adaptive reuse Old buildings often outlive their original purposes. It might have been demolished but through reuse, it has got a new life. The reuse of old building is green, and often financially astute.
Design for Reuse 1. Find a building to reuse. Adaptive reuse can occur at many scales from individual buildings to “Main Streets” to entire districts—all of which are examples of ecological succession with respect to whole buildings. 2. Address these issues. Contextual relationships, architectural compatibility, internal function and organization, choice of new materials and preservation of old materials, historic integrity, and compliance with the Secretary of the Interior’s guide lines if applicable. Based on interviews with architects, builders, and owners, develop your vocabulary associated with adaptive reuse, and gain insight beyond that which can be empirically derived. This may include the state of decay, any special reconstruction, problems (and solutions) encountered during the planning or construction stages, unique artifacts uncovered during dismantling, or the “human story” associated with the building’s past. 3. Carefully document the building or district using photographs and sketches. 4. Execution of design developmpent.
Challenge for Reuse A bit of old world charm is worth the price. “It costs more in terms of design and sometimes with construction to transform an existing structure, so it isn’t as easy as it first sounds,” says Maqami of adaptive reuse. “But you can’t tear down a building and put a one-story Home Depot in Manhattan. You have to plug into the urban fabric.” Hidden suprises. Find documents are not easy and it sometimes lie.
The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation The Standards for Rehabilitation provides guidelines for rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of historic properties. The Standards are to be applied to specific rehabilitation projects in a reasonable manner, taking into consideration economic and technical feasibility.
A property shall be used for its historic purpose or be placed in a new use that requires minimal change to the defining characteristics of the building and its site and environment. Each property shall be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, and use. Changes that create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or architectural elements from other buildings, shall not be undertaken. Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature shall match the old in design, color, texture, and other visual qualities and, where possible, materials. New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction shall not destroy historic materials that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and shall be compatible with the massing, size, scale, and architectural features to protect the historic integrity of the property and its environment. New additions and adjacent or related new construction shall be undertaken in such a manner that if removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the historic property and its environment would be unimpaired.
The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Addition Because a new exterior addition to a historic building can damage or destroy significant materials and can change the building’s character, an addition should be considered only after it has been determined that the new use cannot be met by altering nonsignificant, or secondary, interior spaces. If the new use cannot be met in this way, then an attached addition may be an acceptable alternative if carefully planned. A new addition should be constructed in a manner that preserves significant materials and features and preserves the historic character. Finally, an addition should be differentiated from the historic building so that the new work is not confused with what is genuinely part of the past.
US Department of the Interior: the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources, and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians, territorial affairs, and to insular areas of the United States. National Park Service: the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations. The Department is administered by the United States Secretary of the Interior.
Building Additions Design Guideline Factors affecting feasibility functional, economic, emotional, legal, aesthetic, and engineering aspects. Types of additions - Horizontal additions. - Linked additions: Another type of horizontal addition. Tied to the existing building by means of narrower connection or link.
- Modular expansion: The use of repeatable, self-contained modules. A need for further expansion arises.
- Vertical additions - Internal expansion: For example, additions of a mezzanine floor. - Addition as enclosure: entirely enclose the existing building, so that the identity of the original building is lost within the new construction.
Building Additions Design Guideline - Site considerations
- Site size - Location: a major effect on the economics of what and how much will be built. - Orientation - Topography: All sites are not flat and may take a lot of reshaping in order to fit the addition. - Building codes and zoning laws: for the allowable use, height, setbacks, density of development - Site utilities: electricity, gas, water, storm and sanitary sewer systems all must be examined. - Historic building sites: the historic nature and its relationship to the site must be preserved.
Building Additions Design Guideline - Aesthetic aspects
The union must function properly and also be pleasing to the senses. Aesthetic aspects to consider are: environment, scale, contrast, form, rhythm, addition as backdrop, recall, materials, and connections. To make basic decisions about the aesthetic integration of the new construction with existing building: - Is it desirable for the new addition to be a reproduction of the original building so that the final project appears to be such an integral whole that an outsider will not be able to tell where the old leaves off and the new begins? Successful reproduction relies on a thorough understanding of historical motifs and stylistic language. -Original materials and craftsmanship are often very expensive or impossible to obtain today. -Should the new construction complement the existing building, repeating features in an abstracted fashion? Successful abstraction resulting in a harmonious project involves creating the essence of the original building. This is often accomplished by keeping the massing of the addition similar to what already exists and using contemporary detailing that complements the visual effect of the original details. -Should the addition become a simple background against which the original building viewed? -Should the addition be a sympathetic contrast with the original structure so that each becomes a separate but harmonious entity? Great sensitivity on the part of the designer is required to create an addition that complements the original and does not clash with it.
Case study 1.
The Octagon on Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island, NY
Original Building: Architect: Alexander Jackson Davis Completion: 1841 • Listed in the National Register of Historic Places • Designed as the New York City Asylum for the Insane • The building later served for most of its history as the Metropolitan Hospital, housing 1,400 patients, but after be ing vacated and then suffering two fires in the 1990’s, only the 8 walls of the Octagon tower remained.
New Addtion: Housing Architect: Bruce Becker (Becker + Becker Associates) Completed: 2006 • Restoring a structure and adding a 500-unit luxury housing; but it is also low scale and does not override the neighborhood with its presence. • Design concept: Enlisted the building trades, historic preservationists and environmentalists to develop a water front apartment community that helps bring to fruition Philip Johnson’s utopian master plan for Roosevelt Island. • The existing structure is being fully rehabilitated with its earlier grand cupola to mirror how it appeared in the early 1900’s. • Eco-friendly ‘green building’ Used locally produced materials to minimize energy expended in transport, and then recycled most of the construction waste. The building is free of materials containing formaldehyde and other volatile organic com pounds. And its indoor air will be tested regularly to ensure strict quality standards. • The largest array of solar panels in Manhattan will help to make the building 35% more energy efficient than other new buildings.
Provocation A dramatic change Rebuild from scratch, since only the Octagon of Ruins of the Octagon Asylum could be salvaged. RECYCLE, REHABILITATION, RESTORE & RECONSTRUCTION. By replicating the older structure many architects feared the end result would be a lifeless copy. argues that the significance of the original architecture for the city is “linked with a style ... This sort of restoration and addition is not just a reconstruction of an old artifact, but “a way of staying with the life of a building, which can change over with years.” The physical historic character still can readable by its shape and building materials: Recall : a design approach which attempts to remid the observer of the salient characteristics of the original building. Recall spans a range from recreating the essence of an original building to an exact dupllication of it. A designer may make the aesthetic decesion to copy either selected features or the eintirety of an existing building.
Case study 2.
Falkestrasse Wien, 1010 Austria
Rooftop Addition Falkestrasse
Original building: Site type: urban
The original architecture is typical Viennese styling with a structure predominately of masonry bearing wall construction with what is most likely terra cotta ornament on the exterior.
New Addtion: Architect: Coop Himmelb(l)au Completed: 1988 Type: Office Client: Law firm Schuppich, Sporn, Winischhofer Building area: 400 m2 • concept: from an intuitive sketch to a descending cloud • Number of stories addition: 2
The law firm wished to extend their office upwards. The office is situated on the first and second floor of the building on the corner of Falkestrasse. The main focus of the addition was a large open space, which would be used for meetings. Secondary ofces would adjoin the main space. The architects describe the design of the addition as a visual line of energy that cuts the roof diagonally, a reverse lightning bolt with an arc, stemming from the street intersection below. In contrast to the existing building, the addition uses steel framing, including pre-stressed members, along with reinforced concrete for structural purposes. The exterior aesthetics are similar concerning material choice, metal, and glass. Interior nishes continue with the crisp materials, using nished concrete as the ooring material and exposing the steel skeleton that encloses the spaces.
Provocation Extremely contrasting material to the original, yet the design derives from the city and building context. The light weight look from the glass reduces the controversy. The glass induces the view from the surrounding areas. This building mentions building evolves through times. Since the purpose of the new addition is office, it does not have to exactly copy the past. Structural considerations: Vertical additions. Usually adding two stories on a rooftop is structurally not allowable. Materials choice will be limited by that; lighter framing, longer spans. It should be very careful in analyzing the entire sturcutre, both old and new.
Case study 3. Paris, France
Louvre Pyramid
Original building: From the Louvre Palace (12th C) to the Louvre Museum (18th C)
The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace. During the French Revolution, the palace converted to a museum. The museum opened on August 1793.
New Addtion: Architect: I.M.Pei Completed: 1989 • Use: services, office • functions as the museum’s main entrance: Symbolizes the connection between new and old. • bring daylight into an underground lobby • Height: 79ft • 270,000 sqft • 603 diamond-shaped and 70 triangular panes of 21 millimetre thick glass • The water around the glass pyramid signifies the balance of yin and yang (in chinease). Part of the expansion of the Louvre museum, which made the museum the largest in the world. The pyramid forms the top of a 2-level complex of shops, reception area end exhibition space. Why glass pyramid? I.M.Pei intended to use light weight and transparent structure of the new addition which do not damage the original majestic mood of the palace. “The biggest challenge was executing the work in an area that was classified as a historic site. Technically it was very difficult,”
Provocation Many people felt that the futuristic edifice looked quite out of place in front of the Louvre Museum with its classical architecture. Others lauded the juxtaposition of contrasting architectural styles as a successful merger of the old and the new, the classical and the ultra-modern. There are lots of Museum in this world, but there are no Museum that breath with each era like the Louvre Museum. Contrast: A designer can sometimes highlight an original buidling by choosing not to copy motifs but to tastefully contrast them. Contrasting exterior materials used for the new addition, complement the existing historical style of the original buildings by not competeing with it.
Preserving the past, Modernizing a building Thoughts
A lot of architects back off from the preservation movement’s three r’s — Restoration, Renovation, and Reuse. Particularly restoration. They look on it as too much of a craft, without enough creative design input. They fear becoming typecast as mere technicians conserving past artworks, instead of artists building on tradition. You are not really just restoring. You are putting it back so that the restored building will say something the original doesn’t say. After all, you are restoring in a different time and in a different way that addresses different conditions. (Byard,2005) Adaptive reuse, demand architectural creativity in shifting between the past and present. The mixture of Past, Present, Future. The issue: New design intervention is necessary for adaptive reuse. A question: How much design intervention is too much? A provocation: Are we too timid to accept innovative intervention? (Adaptive reuse-a provocative proposition - HKU Architectural Conservation Programme) By adhering sensitively to the proportion and scale of the existing building, it bolster the continuity between it and their new interventions. The dialectic of Modern and Classical vocabularies doesn’t devolve into discordance. Instead, the juxtaposition highlights the drama of both. Preservation is important not only to remind us of our past, but to communicate what our past means to us today. The past cannot be trapped in a false amber of pastness. It must be part of the complex palimpsest of modern life. (Stern,2005)
The cultural value of architecture can be accounted for by various scholarly works in fields such as cognitive science, behavioral science, environmental psychology, aesthetics, architectural theory, and architectural history. Studying the interpretation of the cultural value of architecture reveals that it can be summarized into two general trends:
1. Some architectural theoreticians and historians assert that architecture should be the reflection of the zeitgeist (time spirit) of a society. It is suggested that architecture should express “the Lebensgefühl (attitude to life) of an epoch” : Ethics
2. Buildings are the outcome of practical needs, geographical conditions, and long cultural tradition and beliefs rooted in a society. The buildings survive through an evolution of their forms that accommodates the changing needs of the public, which is reflected in society and culture. : Public perception
The significance of the public perception in adaptive reuse. This perspective is supported by cognitive science studies, which demonstrate the significance of public perception as a foundational source that coins the cultural and aesthetic values of architecture.
The Interior’s standards are for the preserving building identity rather than guildline for evolution of the building of practical needs.
Work Cited
Dibner, 1985, Building Additions Design Stephens, Suzanne, Presenting the Past, Architectural Record; Mar2005, Vol. 193 Issue 3, p119-121, 3p YOU KYONG AHN, Building type and public perception, 2007 Harden, 2004, Harden, Raised plane_ An Urban Rooftop Village Dorris, 1992, Past, ENR magazine, Present, future mix during final work at treasured Louvre Rochette, 1994, Revitalizing the Louvre The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards: http://architecture.about.com/od/preservation/a/historicrestore.htm Architectural reuse http://www.umich.edu/~nppcpub/resources/compendia/ARCHpdfs/ARCHr&rC.pdf Adaptive reuse case studies http://adaptivereuse.info/ The Octagon Apartment http://www.octagonnyc.com/ http://www.dexigner.com/news/7744 http://www.undercity.org/photos/Octagon/index.htm