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The Adaptive Reuse Predicament: Gillian Armstrong

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The Adaptive Reuse Predicament: Gillian Armstrong The adaptive reuse predicament: An investigation into whether building regulation is a key barrier to adaptive reuse of vacant office buildings Gillian Armstrong A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of University of Adelaide for the award of Doctor of Philosophy August 2020 The adaptive reuse predicament Declaration I certify that this work contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in my name, in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. In addition, I certify that no part of this work will, in the future, be used in a submission in my name, for any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution without the prior approval of the University of Adelaide and where applicable, any partner institution responsible for the joint-award of this degree. I acknowledge that copyright of published works contained within this thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of those works. I also give permission for the digital version of my thesis to be made available on the web, via the University’s digital research repository, the Library Search and also through web search engines, unless permission has been granted by the University to restrict access for a period of time. I acknowledge the support I have received for my research through the provision of an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. Gillian Armstrong (Candidate) Date: 01.08.2020 Gillian Armstrong 2020 Page i The adaptive reuse predicament Abstract The problem of vacant buildings affects cities globally, and office vacancy rates have become a specific political issue in Australian CBDs. Specifically, arguments made in public debate claim that building regulation inhibits the take-up for adaptive reuse of vacant office buildings to mitigate obsolescence. Technical performance standards within Australia’s National Construction Code (NCC) are cited as a key barrier to adaptive reuse in public discourse and by previous studies. This thesis pursued an inductive methodology investigating which aspects of NCC standards are barriers to adaptive reuse. The research focuses on the office building population within Adelaide, South Australia. The mixed-methods research design includes analysis of public debate in news articles, a survey of professionals in Australia experienced in adaptive reuse, semi-structured interviews with stakeholders in Adelaide, and an examination of untenanted and ‘greyspace’ vacancy types in Adelaide’s building population using a novel quantitative method developed in this research, referred to as the Vacancy Visual Analytics Method (VVAM). Contrary to popular belief, this study did not find conclusive evidence that building regulation inhibits adaptive reuse of office buildings. While content analysis of news articles and data from the survey and semi-structured interviews highlighted that building regulation is typically presented as a barrier to adaptive reuse, there is a lack of convincing detail, beyond generalised anecdotes. The examination of vacancy, through VVAM, questions simplistic representations of aggregated vacancy rates, present in the public debate, and the need for adaptive reuse to address the perceived obsolescence. Examination of the sample (n=118) revealed that while 56 buildings had high vacancy (office-use vacancy rate above 50%), around 65.3% of high vacancy (276,644m2) resides within only 24 relatively new primary offices. Findings also revealed that only 4 large- scale (GLABUILDING>3000m2) secondary buildings had potential for whole building adaptive reuse; however, the vacancy in these 4 buildings was predominantly greyspace, and contextual factors made whole building adaptive reuse unlikely. On a scale smaller than whole building adaptive reuse, 21 large secondary buildings emerged as potentially Gillian Armstrong 2020 Page ii The adaptive reuse predicament suitable for mixed-use-multi-level adaptive reuse. Further examination revealed 17 of these buildings had less than 2 stacked floorplates which were wholly untenanted, reducing the viability of multiple level adaptive reuse. The distribution of vacancy across the population reduced the suitability of whole building and mixed-use-multi-level adaptive reuse as a city-wide strategy to solve perceived vacancy problems. This study concludes that aggregated market vacancy rates are poor predictors of the suitability for adaptive reuse as an urban regeneration strategy to mitigate obsolescence in existing buildings. Therefore, a reduction in building regulation requirements would not necessarily lead to greater adaptive reuse of under-used office buildings as the distribution of vacancy does not lend itself to whole building adaptive reuse. This research provides new critical perspectives on the relationship between adaptive reuse and building regulation. Research findings can help shape policy development in urban planning, and interrogate agendas seeking to reduce NCC regulation of existing buildings. Findings can also inform building owner feasibility decisions for adaptive reuse development and has implications for changing stakeholders’ attitudes towards regulation in architectural practice. Keywords Building regulation; adaptive reuse; urban regeneration; office building stock; barriers. Gillian Armstrong 2020 Page iii The adaptive reuse predicament Publications associated with this research Armstrong, G., Queale., M., Voigt, B. (2019) The Shape of Vacancy. Internal report for State Heritage Unit, Department of Environment and Water, South Australian State Government. Unpublished. (See appendix 7-E) Gillian Armstrong 2020 Page iv The adaptive reuse predicament Acknowledgements I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my principal supervisor, Professor Veronica Soebarto, for her immense support throughout the course of this research. Many thanks also to my co-supervisor, Professor Jian Zuo, who kept my momentum flowing through the quantitative phases of this study. Without Veronica and Jian’s contributions, my personal development throughout my PhD journey would have been much less. I wish to acknowledge three enablers of research who sit outside of academia, in the worlds of state and local government. I owe an important debt to the former Lord Mayor of Adelaide, Martin Haese, who significantly helped me build my network of data gatekeepers, at a time when office vacancy had become a sensitive and politicised environment to navigate. Without this mentoring, my quest to secure taxation data would not have been possible, nor the development of VVAM, the novel method developed in and relied upon by this study. The support from Robyn Taylor, Senior Policy Planner at Adelaide City Council, has also been instrumental, particularly in aiding the recruitment of participants when my ‘plan A’ was not fruitful. These thanks extend to Michael Queale at State Heritage Unit, for an opportunity to test my VVAM on a live project within State Government. I would also like to acknowledge research participants. Their willingness to engage has enabled me to ensure this study has potential for addressing a real-world issue affecting my favourite environment: mercurial cities. Formal thanks must go to the Australian Building Codes Board for financial support of this research in its early stages. I also wish to acknowledge the contribution of my former supervisor, Professor George Zillante, who directed my initial research journey, reviewing building regulation technical codes as a barrier to addressing empty buildings. The unconditional love and support of my husband, David, has been instrumental. This short sentence does not begin to cover my gratitude for his part in this journey, with his constant reassurance, and patience as a midnight sounding board. Finally, I wish to say a huge thank you to my tweens, Ruby and Joseph, who are now much better chefs than any of their peers due to the all-consuming nature of this PhD in the last 12 months. Gillian Armstrong 2020 Page v The adaptive reuse predicament Table of contents Declaration ................................................................................................................ i Abstract .................................................................................................................... ii Publications associated with this research ............................................................... iv Acknowledgements .................................................................................................. v Table of contents ..................................................................................................... vi List of figures ......................................................................................................... xiii List of tables ........................................................................................................... xv Abbreviations ....................................................................................................... xvii Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................... 19 1.1 Problem statement ......................................................................................... 19 1.2 Background to building regulation in Australia .............................................
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