Conversion of Industrial Buildings
Introduction
I.1 The Aim of the Thesis
The primary aim of this thesis is an exploration of conservation design guidelines for the conversion of industrial buildings.
During the last twenty years, this building type has increasingly been protected as a symbol of the historic value attached to the physical remains of the industrialization process. The best way to secure their continuing role in the urban fabric for the future was through adaptive reuse. Conservationists prescribe design guidelines for the conversion schemes of all protected buildings in formal terms, requiring that the ‘aesthetic integrity’ of the protected building is maintained as much as possible.
The same set of guidelines apply to the conversion of buildings that are protected for their historic interest as well as those protected for their architectural value. Since industrial buildings are largely protected primarily for the former as opposed to the latter the question arises of how the guidelines reflecting the importance of a building’s aesthetics can govern the conversion of buildings which are considered to be without either aesthetic or architectural value in the first place. The main aim of this thesis is thus to investigate how ‘aesthetic integrity’ can be understood in relation to a building which is considered as being without architectural value, in this case industrial buildings, so that ‘aesthetic integrity’ understood in this new way can guide the design decision of a conversion scheme.
In the most general terms, architectural conservation deals with three questions: why, what and how we can protect buildings. Conservationists, coming from various professional backgrounds (historians, art historians, archaeologists, sociologists), provide answers to these questions. Architects are those who have to translate conservationists’ guidelines for the how into the actual architectural design for the conversion of the building. Traditionally, each question
I.1 The Aim of the Thesis
The primary aim of this thesis is an exploration of conservation design guidelines for the conversion of industrial buildings.
During the last twenty years, this building type has increasingly been protected as a symbol of the historic value attached to the physical remains of the industrialization process. The best way to secure their continuing role in the urban fabric for the future was through adaptive reuse. Conservationists prescribe design guidelines for the conversion schemes of all protected buildings in formal terms, requiring that the ‘aesthetic integrity’ of the protected building is maintained as much as possible.
The same set of guidelines apply to the conversion of buildings that are protected for their historic interest as well as those protected for their architectural value. Since industrial buildings are largely protected primarily for the former as opposed to the latter the question arises of how the guidelines reflecting the importance of a building’s aesthetics can govern the conversion of buildings which are considered to be without either aesthetic or architectural value in the first place. The main aim of this thesis is thus to investigate how ‘aesthetic integrity’ can be understood in relation to a building which is considered as being without architectural value, in this case industrial buildings, so that ‘aesthetic integrity’ understood in this new way can guide the design decision of a conversion scheme.
In the most general terms, architectural conservation deals with three questions: why, what and how we can protect buildings. Conservationists, coming from various professional backgrounds (historians, art historians, archaeologists, sociologists), provide answers to these questions. Architects are those who have to translate conservationists’ guidelines for the how into the actual architectural design for the conversion of the building. Traditionally, each question