Adaptive reuse is gaining momentum as a valued architectural approach, but successfully transforming existing buildings for new purposes requires specific skills and methodologies that many architects lack. Industry experts from leading firms including MVRDV, Solon Studio, GRT Architects, and Purcell emphasize that architects must develop hands-on experience and technical expertise to tackle these increasingly complex projects effectively.
Adaptive reuse involves repurposing existing buildings for new functions while preserving most of the original structure. This approach reduces waste, preserves embodied carbon, and maintains the social and historical significance of buildings. When executed properly, it creates a bridge between past and present, conserving a building's heritage and character while potentially saving time, carbon emissions, and construction costs through material retention and reuse.
According to Purcell design partner Alasdair Travers, who has worked on sensitive masterplans including the National Maritime Museum, the foundation of successful adaptive reuse lies in direct engagement with historic buildings. "Get on site, often and early," Travers advised. "You learn more by walking through a site than by staring at a model. See how buildings are put together and how they deteriorate. Learn to read plans of old buildings, understand their logic and appreciate their limitations. This is a field where theory only takes you so far – learning through doing is key."
Developing technical knowledge around materials and conservation techniques is crucial, experts agree. Jessica Barker, director of Solon Studio who transformed neglected farm buildings into The Parks housing complex in Herefordshire, recommends studying traditional construction methods. "Reading old construction manuals is beneficial as they're filled with empirical knowledge and are often based on centuries of practice," Barker explained. She emphasizes examining traditional materials and techniques such as lime plaster, timber joinery, and damp proofing. "Volunteering with conservation organizations or observing refurbishment works to understand the impacts and mitigation of moisture, settlement and decay are crucial."
Eduardo Benamor Duarte, head of interior architecture at Rhode Island School of Design, reinforces the importance of contextual understanding. "Pay attention to context. Become an active participant in modulating space with resources already built rather than extracted and assembled from disparate contexts," he said. "Every practitioner ought to understand specific values that reflect social, cultural and material parameters of a given context."
The disconnect from physical materials in our increasingly digital world presents additional challenges. Dennis Maher, architect and founder of The Assembly House, an experimental project transforming a historic former church in New York, stresses the importance of tactile learning. "Modes of hands-on engagement are important. There's a lot of learning to be gained by working directly with tools and materials – discovering how wood behaves because you've shaped it, understanding what's inside a wall because you've assembled or cut it. This tacit knowledge transfers to different scales and situations."
Rustam-Marc Mehta, founding partner at GRT Architects who worked on adapting a New York historic neo-Gothic rectory, emphasizes developing a robust methodology. "Respecting history does not mean being beholden to it, yet there is a need to develop a robust methodology. By identifying what might be worth saving and what might be modified, we've developed an approach that invests in a historic dialogue."
Flexibility emerges as a critical skill when working with older buildings, as unforeseen challenges frequently arise from irregular layouts, historical quirks, and worn materials that don't align with modern construction practices. "Teams must be prepared to revise assumptions, respond to unexpected conditions, and make pragmatic yet imaginative choices to honor the past while delivering something fit for the future," Barker noted. "Be willing to adapt," echoed Travers. "The best reuse architects are those who love the work – not just the end product, but the messy, unpredictable, hands-on process of getting there."
Jacob van Rijs, founding partner at MVRDV, which recently overhauled a former industrial site in Shanghai, emphasizes the unique nature of each project. "Skills are different for different types of adaptive reuse projects – you need a kind of discovery and innovative mindset where you can turn restrictions into solutions. There could be all sorts of skeletons in the closet."
Beyond technical skills, experts highlight the importance of creative problem-solving and interdisciplinary exposure. Maher advocates for architects to engage with fine arts and other creative disciplines. "Being bold, searching for new possibilities at every stage, and having a desire to actualize these. Exposure to art and artistic practices is essential. The technical skills are important, but it's the creative problem-solving that leads to exciting new opportunities."
Community engagement and social skills are equally vital components of successful adaptive reuse projects. Maher emphasizes understanding the communities surrounding a building and ensuring their inclusion in adaptation conversations. "This is one reason why social skills are also extremely important – knowing your audience and becoming familiar with the many communities of people involved and having the mindset to bring them in."
Current architectural education systems present significant barriers to developing these essential skills. Experts identify multiple issues including the separation of historic preservation and architectural design as distinct subjects, limited exposure to real buildings, and conventional teaching methods that don't accommodate the messy, iterative nature of adaptive reuse work. "It's messy, iterative and full of compromise, which makes it harder to teach in a conventional university setting," Travers observed. "There's also a lack of exposure to real buildings: students aren't often given the chance to study existing structures in detail, let alone work on them."
This educational gap is creating a "significant gap" in required skills as universities continue prioritizing new-build thinking while the profession increasingly shifts toward adaptive reuse. "But as the profession shifts, education needs to shift too," Travers warned. Barker agrees, suggesting that "to support adaptive reuse, hands-on learning about historic construction, building techniques and materials would be useful. Understanding that buildings are not blank canvases but are layered artifacts is a good start."
The experts unanimously call for enhanced partnerships between academic institutions, studios, and practitioners working on adaptive reuse projects to provide students with more practical experience. As the architectural industry continues evolving toward more sustainable and historically conscious practices, developing these specialized skills becomes increasingly crucial for future practitioners who will shape how we preserve and transform our built environment.
