Buildings, like many other things, wear down over time, so it's no surprise that cities and countrysides are home to abandoned lighthouses and misused warehouses. But a rising architectural approach called adaptive reuse offers a way to give a second life to these structures.
It can offer a lot of useful solutions for the surrounding area, like low-income or student housing, community centers, or mixed-use venues. And since the industry is picking up so much steam, we at Bored Panda decided to expand one of our existing series and make a new list of some of the most surprising repurposed properties.
#1 Boekhandel Dominicanen In Maastricht, The Netherlands. A Bookstore In A 13th Century Gothic Church
Image credits: ExtremeOccident
#2 Former Olive Mill Turned Into Home In Italy
Image credits: tobago_88
According to experts, adaptive reuse is important for a community because it:
- Maintains cultural heritage. In communities with historic architecture, adaptive reuse is a form of historic preservation. It restores culturally significant sites that would otherwise be left to decay or demolished to make room for new buildings or parking lots.
- Slows urban sprawl. When builders search for new construction sites, they must often choose land further outside of a city center since the land within a city is usually claimed by old buildings or more expensive real estate. This fuels the process of “urban sprawl,” a term for the unrestricted expansion of urban areas, contributing to air pollution and other environmental impacts, dangerous traffic patterns, higher infrastructure costs, and social isolation. Adaptive reuse offers a counter to urban sprawl.
- Creates a new community beacon. Adaptive reuse architecture is functional and often incredibly beautiful. For example, the Tate Modern art gallery in London is housed in a building formerly known as the Bankside Power Station, a decommissioned electricity plant. Taking an adaptive approach allowed builders to create a unique and beautiful art gallery that is now a new cultural beacon in the city.
#3 Waterstones Book Shop – Bradford, West Yorkshire
Image credits: tommyh4790
#4 My Local Library Moved Into An Old Grocery Store
Image credits: bumtheben
#5 Atocha Tropical Garden In Madrid, Spain. The Building Once Was The Old Train Station Before The Transportation Hub Was Expanded To Include Its High-Speed Train Links
The sprawling garden contains 7,000 plants from more than 260 species.
Image credits: Daderot
#6 The Place Where Julius Caesar Was Murdered Is Now A Sanctuary For Cats
Image credits: gunslayerjj
#7 An Old British Telephone Box Which Was Decommissioned From Public Use. This One In Bath Has Been Turned Into A Flower Bed
Image credits: JakeWalkin
#8 The Parking Garage Turned Into 44 Apartments In Wichita, Kansas
Image credits: Broadway Autopark
#9 This Old Church Has Been Converted To Self-Catering Accommodation In Scotland
Image credits: JMASTERS_01
#10 I Converted A School Bus Into My House
Image credits: reddit.com
#11 This Walgreens Is In An Old Bank
Image credits: acol0mbian
#12 The Floor In The Design Building At My College Is The Basketball Court It Used To Be
Image credits: hermigerd
#13 My Airbnb Was An Entire House Built Inside A Barn
Image credits: jbells1245
#14 The Gym I Go To Is Renovating. They Knocked A Few Walls Down And Revealed It Used To Be A Hollywood Video
Image credits: f1sh_
#15 Grand Avenue Mall. The Way It Was Remade Into Apartments Turned It Into A Somewhat Surreal Space
Image credits: Lat3nt
#16 My Apartment, A Converted Church From The 1800s, On A Cold Evening In London
Image credits: reddit.com
#17 These Old Silos In Oklahoma Were Converted To A Rock Climbing Gym
Image credits: Mild-Jalapeno
#18 My Hotel Used To Be A Prison
Image credits: Savings-Spirit-3702
#19 This Massive Library In Barcelona Is Built In What Was Formerly A Water Deposit Built In 1874
The pillars and vaults, inspired by the Romans, are this large as the water was held in a pool on the roof
Image credits: Suissetralia
#20 This Is The New Life Of A Rescued And Repurposed Gothic-Arch Barn Near Manassas, VA
Image credits: Dont_Tell_Me_Now
#21 I Converted A Van Into A Home And Now Work Remotely And Travel Full-Time
Image credits: danziehartlieb
#22 A Beautiful Old Church Was Converted Into An Awesome Climbing Center, Retaining Original Features Like Stain Glass Windows And An Altar (Manchester Climbing Center, UK)
Image credits: deespose
#23 My Apartment For The Night In Porto, Portugal Has A Preserved 12th Century Wall And Staircase Encased In The Bedroom
Image credits: Sirnando138
#24 Our Table At The Local Cafe Is Positioned Over A Medieval Well
Image credits: D1T1A
#25 This Old School NYC Subway Entrance Got Turned Into A Subway Entrance
Image credits: huebomb
#26 Stayed In A Boeing 747 Converted To A Hostel At Arlanda Airport, Sweden (Jumbo Stay)
Image credits: EntirelyForgettable
#27 That's Cool, But Are We Just Going To Gloss Over The Presumably Spine-Tingling Story Of Why The Side Entrance To Your Lab Has Been Bricked Over For Decades
Image credits: McfaddenGeoff
#28 Vermont Converted Barn – Cozy Living Room
Image credits: dirtandglass
#29 This Church Has Been Converted Into A Bar
Image credits: Hera2990
#30 A Fantastic Looking Building
Image credits: NouveauDeco
#31 Juerg Judin House, Berlin, Germany. Was Originally A Gas Station Built In The 1950s
Image credits: dwell.com
#32 A Supermarket In An Old Theater In Venice, Italy
Image credits: NubiSparse
#33 Synagogue Turned Into A Café In Trnava, Slovakia
Image credits: kiwi2703
#34 Cozy Converted Church I Stayed In
Image credits: Halo0_0
#35 A Trampoline Park Inside A Former Church
Image credits: papa-emeritus
#36 The Carvings Around My Doorframe – 18th Century Converted Manor
Image credits: Myneckmyguac
#37 A Grocery Store Inside A 3rd Century Roman Imperial Palace In Croatia
Image credits: FranjoTahy
#38 One Of Our Local Libraries Moved Into An Old Marsh Supermarket
Image credits: blt08
#39 Every Apartment In This Block Has Been Turned Into A Cafe Or Restaurant
Image credits: youdoublearewhy
#40 My Hotel Used To Be A Prison
Image credits: Savings-Spirit-3702