DEGREE PROJECT IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT, SECOND CYCLE, 30 CREDITS STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN 2020
A framework for sustainable adaptive reuse of industrial buildings
Testing the developed adaptive building reuse framework on the case of The Plant in Chicago, USA
FRIEDRICH HAMPEL
KTH ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT Figure 0: The Plant and the surroundings (Robiglio, 2017)
II Acknowledgements
Firstly, I would like to thank my parents and my whole family for always supporting me and providing the great opportunity of studying at KTH. This was one of the best experiences I have ever had. Secondly, I have to thank every friend who made me to who I am and provided some much-needed distraction during the time I worked on my thesis. Furthermore, a big thanks goes to the people who worked with me connected to The Plant (Jonathan Pereira, John Edel, Tessa Vierk, Carolee Kokola) and to Thomas Steinberger who provided valuable insights into the Tabakfabrik, Linz, Austria. And lastly, a major thanks goes to my supervisor Andrew Karvonen who provided valuable critique and pushed me to get better. I learned so much from him during this process and will always look back on our conversations with great enjoyment.
III Abstract
Sustainable urban development is one of the dominant movements in the urban planning realm in the 21st century. It focuses mainly on improving current life while keeping future effects to an extent with which future life is not restricted. Adaptive reuse can play an important role in this movement towards more sustainability due to its simple reuse approach. But to improve the process of adaptive reuse a holistic framework is needed. This thesis first develops a holistic framework from recent research literature with the later aim of testing it in form of a case study – focusing on The Plant in Chicago, USA. Six themes were identified as the six to consider for a holistic perspective on adaptive reuse – economic, environmental, technical, context, social, and regulations and policy. Site visits, interviews, GIS-analysis, and desk-based study build the core methods to test the framework and produce the findings. Capital investment, market demands, reconstruction costs, and the influence on the local economy are economic factors that determine the economic performance of the adaptive reuse project The Plant. These findings show the applicability of the framework and further point out possible synergies and conflicts that can be utilized and avoided in future processes. The research indicates, for example, conflicts between environmental performance and economic expenses. Overall, the results indicate the applicability of the framework and the needed consideration of the identified synergies and conflicts for the positive performance of the adaptive reuse process and thus a positive contribution to sustainable urban development.
Keywords: Adaptive reuse, framework, sustainable urban development, The Plant, industrial buildings
IV Sammandrag
Hållbar stadsutveckling är en av de dominerande rörelserna inom stadsplaneringsområdet under 2000-talet. Det fokuserar främst på att förbättra det nuvarande livet samtidigt som framtida effekter hålls i en utsträckning som framtida liv inte är begränsat. Adaptiv återanvändning kan spela en viktig roll i denna rörelse mot mer hållbarhet på grund av dess enkla återanvändningsmetod. Men för att förbättra processen för adaptiv återanvändning behövs en helhetsram. Denna avhandling utvecklar först en helhetsram från ny forskningslitteratur med det senare syftet att testa den i form av en fallstudie - med fokus på The Plant i Chicago, USA. Sex teman identifierades som de sex att överväga för ett helhetsperspektiv på adaptiv återanvändning - ekonomisk, miljömässig, teknisk, kontext, social och regler och policy. Platsbesök, intervjuer, GIS-analys och skrivbaserad studie bygger kärnmetoderna för att testa ramverket och producera resultaten. Kapitalinvesteringar, marknadskrav, återuppbyggnadskostnader och påverkan på den lokala ekonomin är ekonomiska faktorer som avgör den ekonomiska prestandan för det adaptiva återanvändningsprojektet The Plant. Dessa resultat visar hur ramverket är tillämpligt och pekar vidare på möjliga synergier och konflikter som kan användas och undvikas i framtida processer. Forskningen indikerar till exempel konflikter mellan miljöprestanda och ekonomiska kostnader. Sammantaget visar resultaten att ramverket är tillämpligt och den nödvändiga övervägande av de identifierade synergierna och konflikterna för den positiva prestandan i den adaptiva återanvändningsprocessen och därmed ett positivt bidrag till en hållbar stadsutveckling.
Nyckelord: Adaptiv återanvändning, ramverk, hållbar stadsutveckling, Anläggningen, industribyggnader
V Table of Contents
Acknowledgements III Abstract IV Sammandrag V Table of Contents VI List of Figures VIII 1. Introduction 2 Adaptive reuse, Chicago and The Plant 2
2. Literature Review 4 Defining Adaptive Building Reuse 4 History 6 Comparing Adaptive Reuse to Other Building Modifications (Demolition, Renovation, etc. ) 7 The Process of Adaptive Reuse 8 (Industrial) Buildings and Reuse 11 Examples of Adaptive Reuse of Industrial Buildings 12 Buildings as Landmarks 16
3. Theoretical Framework 18 Factors of Adaptive Reuse in Industrial Buildings 18 Research Gaps, Aim and Research Questions 24
VI 4. Methodology 26 Research Design 27 Stakeholder Interviews 27 Site Visits 28 GIS-Analysis 29 Methodological Limitations 30
5. Findings & Discussion 32 Chicago’s History 32 The Union Stockyards 33 The Plant 34 Findings and Discussion 36 Economic Factors 36 Environmental Factors 39 Technical Aspects 41 Context 44 Social Effects 47 Regulation and Policy Effects 48 Synergies and Conflicts 50
6. Conclusions 52 Overall Learnings 52 Suggestions for Implementation 54 Suggested Further Research 56
Reference List 58 Appendix A 64
VII List of Figures
Titlepage: The Plant Cross-Section (Robiglio, 2017) Figure 0: The Plant and the surroundings (Robiglio, 2017) II Figure 1: Peer Foods Building 1 Figure 2: Ghirardelli Square (HOK, 2020) 6 Figure 3: Process of adaptive reuse (Wilkinson et al., 2009) 7 Figure 4: Life cycle of buildings (Gervasio & Dimova, 2018) 10 Figure 5: Tate Modern Gallery, London (Shutterstock, 2020) 13 Figure 6: Distillery District, Toronto 14 Figure 7: Brooklyn Bridge Park, New York (Antanov, n.d.) 15 Figure 8: Worlds Columbian Exposition 17 Figure 9: The historic Union Stockyards (Tribune historical, 2015) 33 Figure 10: The Plant Garden 35 Figure 11: Employment (Córdova & Wilson, 2017) 37 Figure 12: Anaerobic Digester (Lott, 2019) 38 Figure 13: Businesses (City of Chicago, 2020a; map created by author) 38 Figure 14: Restrooms 40 Figure 15: Barricaded Windows 41 Figure 16: Open Floor Layout 42 Figure 17: Public Transport (City of Chicago, 2020a; map created by author) 43 Figure 18: Street Network (City of Chicago, 2020a; map created by author) 43 Figure 19: Green Spaces (City of Chicago, 2020a; map created by author) 44 Figure 20: Street View 44 Figure 21: Historic Landmarks (City of Chicago, 2020a; map created by author) 46 Figure 22: Zoning (City of Chicago, 2020d) 48 Figure 23: The Plant frontal view 51 Figure 24: Tabakfabrik Linz 55 Figure 25: Adapted Structure 57
VIII Figure 1: Peer Foods Building
1 1. Introduction
Adaptive reuse, Chicago and The Plant
The sustainability discussion has been dominating the political and academic realm in the last decades. Climate change and emitted fossil fuels are the main areas of improvement for politicians connected to the sustainability movement. Also, urban development shifted the focus in the direction of sustainable development which can be defined as “improving the quality of life ina city, including ecological, cultural, political, institutional, social and economic components without leaving a burden—e.g. the result of a reduced natural capital and an excessive local debt, on the future generations …” (Yigitcanlar & Teriman, 2015, p. 341) It is thus focusing on current actions and future effects and tries to improve the living environment so that it can sustain human actions. Different authors see different fields and focus areas as the integral ones. Ecology, culture, politics, institutions, social, economy, governance, market changes, perspective, planning, people, resource efficiency, quality of life, resilience are just some terms connected to the concept of sustainable urban development and this collection shows how diverse the interpretation of that term and concept is. (Cheshmehzangi & Dawodu, 2019; Haughton, 1997; Kabisch et al., 2018; Yigitcanlar & Teriman, 2015)
Improving the quality of life without leaving a burden behind (for future generations) is also one of the underlying ideas of adaptive reuse which utilizes the existing built structure more effectively by finding a different and suitable use. This process reduces the resources needed by reusing as much as possible and improving the area by reducing abandonment or destruction. But the benefits go beyond the saved emissions and resources; for example, location or economic benefits. Thus, adaptive reuse contributes to the sustainable urban development concept and can play an integral role in it. While many solutions are developed towards new construction adaptive reuse focuses on existing structures and preserving the attached history. This can especially help in old industrial areas or areas with a rich history overall and where buildings have attached meaning or are protected. If the solution would otherwise be abandonment or destruction, adaptive reuse provides a viable option.
What the collection of terms connected to sustainable urban development shows is the need for a 2 Adaptive reuse, Chicago and The Plant holistic approach and each of the authors try different terms/categories. This thesis approaches the creation of a holistic framework, which will be developed based on existing literature. The framework will be applied on a project in Chicago which is a reused meatpacking building (see figure 1) located next to the famous Union Stock Yards. The project called The Plant, attempts a financially successful circular economy space. This is one aspect that contributes even more to the sustainable urban development movement especially in combination with sustainability aspects of adaptive reuse overall. Due to the holistic focus, the framework could be applied to a wide range of different projects. This is a big benefit of this framework, it gives insights into the adaptive reuse process of industrial buildings as well as infrastructure (e.g. train tracks, energy stations, garages, etc.), residential and commercial buildings plus many more.
The aim of this thesis is to test the developed holistic framework on the mentioned project with three underlying research questions, which are:
What does a comprehensive framework of adaptive building reuse reveal about actual building projects?
What synergies and conflicts emerge in the application of the comprehensive framework of adaptive building reuse?
How can a comprehensive framework be used to improve adaptive building reuse projects?
Chapter 2 provides the background literature based on recent research and tries to set a basic knowledge foundation about adaptive reuse. In the following chapter, chapter 3, this information is taken to develop a framework for holistic sustainable adaptive reuse. At the end of this chapter the aim and research questions are explained in more detail. To end the theoretical part of this thesis, chapter 4 describes the methodology used in this research. The start of the thesis focused in the case study forms a short contextualization of the case followed by the findings and discussion. The end of chapter 5 focuses on the second research questions and shows the synergies and conflicts between the developed themes in case of The Plant. The conclusion will sum up the findings, answer the third research question and proposes further research.
3 2. Literature Review
“A literature review is [here understood as] an objective, thorough summary and critical analysis of the relevant available research and non-research literature on [adaptive reuse] ... This analysis finally leads to what is known on the said topic and identifies what is not known.” (Parija et al., 2018, p. 155) In this case, the literature review is not seen as a method that produces results but rather as the starting point for a theoretical framework. Initially, a literature review is a good starting point for every research project because it provides an overview of the current stand of knowledge and the existing knowledge gaps. Secondly, compared to the other methods, a literature review is not producing new knowledge but rather compiling existing knowledge. “In a research paper, you use the literature as a foundation and as support for a new insight that you contribute.“ (University of North Carolina, 2020, para. 6) Thus, the literature in this paper is seen as a base for and way to inform the theoretical framework and the later interpretation of the results, but it is not seen as a research method in itself.
The following literature review points out the definitions of adaptive reuse and other connected terms according to the different authors. It further analyzes the different processes as outlined in the research literature. The main part forming the structure for the analysis is the creation of a framework with themes and factors connected to adaptive reuse in industrial buildings according to the literature. The themes that emerge are the focus points for the analysis and; therefore, the other methods. One of these factors is, for example, the location of the building in reference to other structures. Thus, the results from the literature review determine the structure of the following analysis.
Defining Adaptive Building Reuse
The concept of adaptive reuse is in today´s sustainability-focused society a major topic of discussion. Global warming, a growing population, and growing needs, forces, amongst others, also the building sector to adapt and find ways to accommodate the growing number of people in cities while trying to decrease emissions. According to a report from the Preservation Green Lab, which researched the environmental value of building reuse in the US, “… building operations account for approximately
4 Defining Adaptive Building Reuse
41 percent of the nation’s primary energy consumption, 72 percent of electricity consumption, 38 percent of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and 13 percent of potable water use.” (Frey et al., 2011) These statistics concern the nation´s green building sector, which elevates resource-efficient building design. (Frey et al., 2011) Part of this resource-efficient building design is the concept of adaptive reuse.
At the same time there is an interesting tension between building modernization and heritage preservation. “Historical buildings have significance and they are the memories of the society and are often in advantageous locations in the city centers which provide social benefits such as intrinsic heritage values that they have.” (Zeren, 2015, p. 17) While it is important to keep the heritage alive, building modernization provides the opportunity to fulfill modern requirements. This tension between preserving and modernization is part of the current planning considerations.
To understand the idea of adaptive reuse it is important to start at the smallest entity of the definition, with each of the two words. Adaptation can be defined as “[…] any adjustment that can respond to anticipated or actual consequences …” (P. A. Bullen & P. Love, 2009, p. 358). Today it is often connected to climate change and how to make cities and buildings more resilient. Adaptation does not necessarily imply that it changes the use of the building at all, as Wilkinson and colleagues (2009) describe, it can happen within or across uses. Bullen confirms that by stating “… adaptation describes rehabilitation, renovation or restoration works that do not necessarily involve changes of use.“ (Bullen, 2007, p. 21) Reuse according to the Cambridge Advanced Learner‘s Dictionary & Thesaurus is “to use something again” (Cambridge University Press, 2019). Both words in itself do not describe the process of adaptive reuse but combined they are specifically referring to a process which changes a use and reuses a structure.
The definition of adaptive reuse can be dependent on who will be consulted. Adaptive reuse as an interdisciplinary process (Plevoets & Van Cleempoel, 2011) opens up the possibilities to see the process from different angles. Langston et al. (2008) specify the process as “if a particular function is no longer relevant or desired, buildings may be converted to a new purpose altogether. This is adaptive reuse.“ (Langston et al., 2008, p. 1710). The research can focus on the function as a starting point (Young, 2008) and to take this approach one step further it is important to include the use after the process in the definition (Hasnain & Mohseni, 2018; Mohamed et al., 2017; Tam & Hao, 2019; Yung & Chan, 2012). Hasnain and Mohseni state that “adaptive reuse is a process of discovering the potential of a new function to revitalize disused heritage buildings“ (2018, p. 2). Other authors set a focus on the structure of the building as only structurally sound buildings have the potential to be reused in an adaptive manner (Cantell, 2005; Snyder, 2005). Again other authors focus on the architectural possibilities of reused building (Tappe, 2017). It can be summed up that three approaches of adaptive reuse, as shown above, can be distinguished (Plevoets & Van Cleempoel, 2011). The typological approach is focusing on the use of a building and starts from there, the technical approach, which focuses on the soundness of the built structure and tries to determine the possibilities for a later use from that and the strategic approach which “focuses on the process and strategies applied for converting significant buildings” (Plevoets & Van Cleempoel, 2011, p. 7). Slightly different are Hasnain and Mohseni categorizing the approaches. They also argue there is a typological and a technical approach, but then they argue for a creative reuse approach in addition to the strategic approach (Hasnain & Mohseni, 2018). They further explained that the current challenge is to integrate the creative approach. Lastly Bullen and Love include even the owners in the definition, “adaptive reuse involves converting a building to undertake a change of use required by new or 5 2. Literature Review existing owners” (Bullen & Love, 2011a, p. 412).
The definition that will be used from now on is: Adaptive reuse is the process of reusing underutilized or obsolete buildings for a new use by using at least parts of the existing built structure.
History
The history of adaptive reuse is as old as the history of ancient civilization (Tam & Hao, 2019). The repurposing of buildings was mainly due to functional and financial reasons from the ancient Roman times until the Second World War. Plevoets and Cleempoel (2011) use the example of the repurposing of classical monuments like religious buildings for military uses during the French Revolution to show the directness and simplicity within the process during these days. Heritage conservation as another driving force arose after the building boom in the post-war era. The intention was to counterbalance the architects that tried to break with traditional building ideas (Plevoets & Van Cleempoel, 2011). “Adaptive reuse came into mainstream architectural parlance during the 1960s and 1970s due to the growing concern for the environment.” (Cantell, 2005, p. 3) Reason were the rising fuel and material costs (Cantell, 2005). At the beginning of this period the famous ‘The Death and Life of Great American Cities’ by Jane Jacobs (1961) was published and the first modern industrial building reused in the US was Ghirardelli Square (see figure 2) in San Francisco in 1964 (Tappe, 2017). One of the most important contributors to the rise of the concept was the cost of land (Young, 2008). “While the real price of structures has risen only moderately since the 1980s, the real price of land has taken a relative leap. This implies that sprawling suburban developments, which take
Figure 2: Ghirardelli Square (HOK, 2020)
6 Comparing Adaptive Reuse to Other Building Modifications (Demolition, Renovation, etc. ) up expansive parcels of land, will inevitably involve higher costs than projects undertaken in urban cores. As a result, new construction in the suburbs will be less attractive to certain developers than renovations of existing buildings in downtown areas.” (Young, 2008, p. 705) The high margin for profit in areas with a low building density lead to less reuse then built structures that utilize expensive land more efficiently and are overall just more expensive to destruct. This is especially visible in urban – suburban areas where low density areas are often torn down and built new instead of reused, while high density areas provide a bigger margin for profit in a reuse process and thus are more attractive for developers. So, even though the structured process of adaptive reuse is a modern phenomenon, the idea is around since the ancient Roman times. Especially during the suburbanization the concept gained importance.
Comparing Adaptive Reuse to Other Building Modifications (Demolition, Renovation, etc. )
Adaptive reuse is only one of multiple options to use the space the built structure is on. As shown in figure 3 by Wilkinson and colleagues (2009, p. 48) there are options from demolishing, over reusing, to selling. It is a common opinion that reuse is more expensive then demolishing and rebuilding due to the energy savings, risk management, etc. However, Wilkinson and colleagues (2009) argue that “some studies have showed the adaptation costs surpassing a comparable new build, especially, where the original buildings are complex or have requirements due to listing or legislation“ (p. 50) but the authors also state that “it is often less expensive to adapt a building rather than demolish and rebuild or rather than build new“ (p. 49). This shows the incomparableness between projects and the individual decision about the chosen method of using the space. While some authors argue that
Figure 3: Process of adaptive reuse (Wilkinson et al., 2009)
7 2. Literature Review adaptive reuse can be more expensive others found that the process of adaptive reuse is actually cheaper. Thus, the real expenses are dependent on the individual project and are up for debate in general.
Another debate is the pure economic viability, while some argue it is cheaper to reuse others argue that it is economically cheaper to build new. This is one of the biggest discussions in the current adaptive reuse discourse if only economic viability is taken into account. A different approach than just demolishing is dismantling and recycling the materials. “However, there is increasing recognition that a building at the end of its life is an asset to be valued and that the use of recycled materials and reused components extracted from an old building can potentially lead to a reduction in waste that needs to be disposed of, as well as a reduction in primary resources used and savings in greenhouse gas emissions.“ (Gorgolewski, 2008, p. 176) From an environmental perspective, this is similar to the emission savings during the adaptive reuse process. Process wise, retrofitting/renovating is even closer, because it is a similar physical process with the difference that the use afterwards is the same as before. This is also a more common approach than adaptive reuse because the building keeps the intended use and, thus, the planning process is easier with less risk. Overall there is a wide range of options for developers to choose from with demolition or selling the building on the one end and adaptive reuse on the other.
The Process of Adaptive Reuse
A building, like any other object, has an underlying life cycle it follows. To understand adaptive reuse it is first important to understand when adaptive reuse can happen during the life cycle of a building. Figure 4 by Gervasio and Dimova (2018) shows the starting point of a buildings life cycle which is the design process. After this first material production and the following production, the building is finished from an architect’s perspective. These phases are rather short compared to the multi decade operation phase. In this phase the operator is involved heavily in the life cycle of the building and the operator can determine the pace of the aging process and finally the state of obsolescence (Méquignon & Haddou, 2014). After the first planned operation phase and before the state of obsolescence and final deconstruction, adaptive reuse can happen. Finally, according to Preiser and colleagues (1997) “the end of this phase constitutes the end of the useful life of a building, e.g., when the building is decommissioned, re-used, or demolished.” (p. 11) The continual maintenance and the influence of the major use changes determine the life span of a building, but when the state of physical obsolescence is reached, and the building is destructed which consequently marks a building’s end of life. (Gervasio & Dimova, 2018; Méquignon & Haddou, 2014; Preiser et al., 1997)
“Although buildings are long lasting they require continual maintenance and restoration. Eventually, buildings can become inappropriate for their original purpose due to obsolescence, or can become redundant due to change in demand for their service. It is at these times that change is likely: demolition to make way for new construction, or some form of refurbishment or reuse.” (Langston et al., 2008, p. 1710) There is extensive literature about the obsolescence of buildings. Obsolescence describes the process of becoming obsolete and outdated. Langston (2008) further found seven types of obsolescence:
1. Physical, reduced physical opportunities 2. Economic, a least cost-effective time period 8 The Process of Adaptive Reuse
3. Functional, change in functional (owner) needs 4. Technological, not technologically superior anymore 5. Social, behavioral changes 6. Legal, changes regulations that call for actions 7. Political, standstill due to political reasons
Obsolete buildings can fall in one or more of these types and they are a specific attribute for every building which needs, later on, to be taken into consideration for further decisions. Thus the effects of the obsolescence can be a driving force for the whole process and actions tackling these effects can influence whole neighborhoods. Mohamed et al (2017) researched the effects of obsolescence and decay and found effects such as less used streets and public places, increased criminality, vacant buildings due to leaving residents and more.
But before a building gets obsolete adaptive reuse provides a viable solution. Figure 3 shows the important steps and options for adaptation (Wilkinson et al., 2009, p. 48). It starts with the status of the building, like ‘vacant’, ‘partially vacant’, to ‘satisfactory for current uses and occupants’. This is an important stage of the process because it determines the need for adaptive reuse. And while Wilkinson and colleagues (2009) see this as a starting point, other authors see it as a given and start with the following steps. All three papers taken into account here (Mısırlısoy & Günçe, 2016; Robiglio, 2017; Wilkinson et al., 2009) describe the process of adaptive reuse in their own field of focus, Wilkinson and colleagues (2009) focusing on environmental sustainability and the decision making process, Mısırlısoy and Günçe (2016) on heritage buildings and (Robiglio, 2017) on creative cases and the learnings. While Wilkinson and colleagues (2009) mainly describe the stages in which the building is during the process, Mısırlısoy and Günçe (2016) and Robiglio (2017) include the stakeholders and their actions as well.
The starting point for an adaptive reuse process, according to the literature, is the definition of actors. Afterwards, the assessment of the building and exploration of possibilities are key stages of the process. (Mısırlısoy & Günçe, 2016; Robiglio, 2017) But then the literature shows different steps that are similar but still distinct. While Robiglio (2017) envisions a future, Mısırlısoy and Günçe (2016) decide further actions, and arguably both are important. To decide further actions a vision is necessary and thus arguably both papers are missing a step and the combination of both is necessary. Figure 3 shows the stages the building is in during the process and the named steps are the actions necessary to reach those stages shown in figure 3. Authors repeatedly have an overlay in their structure of the process but all three papers taken into account here are distinct and different. Interesting here is that some authors (Mısırlısoy & Günçe, 2016; Wilkinson et al., 2009) stop their structure here after the future is planned, while others go on until the building is in full use again. The next steps are ‘involve partners’, ‘colonize the place’, ‘design to reuse’, ‘placemaking and funding’ and ‘run and evolve’. (Robiglio, 2017)
Important actors throughout the process are first of all the developers due to their influence on the outcome of the project. “Decisions made by development companies to build, adapt and develop industrial space will have a huge influence on the capacity of the local economy to attract investment, and, given research findings from around the world, to nurture new or existing businesses.“ (Ball, 1999, p. 141) But developers, as part of their nature, need investment returns to even start the development, thus the government with their incentives is the next important actor (Bullen & Love, 2011a). As Robiglio (2017) outlines in one of the later steps ‘colonize the place’ involve the public as 9 2. Literature Review users, and thus the public is another important actor. Others are architects and designers, original users, etc. (Mısırlısoy & Günçe, 2016).
• Developer • User • Governmental agencies • Public • Neighbors • Architects and planners • …
The assessment of the structure and the exploration of possibilities is an integral part of the process because it determines the future actions. Different assessment blocks can be defined, with for example ‘original function’, ‘physical character’, ‘heritage values’ and ‘needs of the district’ as four focus areas (Mısırlısoy & Günçe, 2016). The analysis of these four focus areas will give a broad overview of the insufficiencies and the future needs of the building and the neighborhood. Compared to that, other authors discuss four partly different factors. First the ‘location’, which is missing in Mısırlısoy and Günçe (2016) but is an essential part of the adaptive reuse process. The second and third factors are the ‘appropriate scale’ of the project and the creation of a ‘powerful story’ for the project. The last factor is similar to the ‘physical character, the ‘potential of the existing structure’. (Robiglio, 2017) To have a more holistic set of focus blocks a combination is needed:
• Original function • Physical character • Heritage values • Needs of the district • Location • Scale • Powerful story
Figure 4: Life cycle of buildings (Gervasio & Dimova, 2018)
10 (Industrial) Buildings and Reuse
The next step is the envisioning of a future use. Hasnain and Mohseni (2018) argue, like other authors (e.g. Cherchi, 2015), that the most important part of envisioning a future is the creative ideation process. The ideas work as the underlying concept of the process and function as a guideline for future decisions. Cherchi (2015) proposes some questions to create a vision:
• “What is the potential of abandoned monumental buildings for renewing and regenerating inner-city areas of our cities? • What future do we imagine for old buildings that historically have played a significant role in the civic structure of a community and that still contribute to forming the memory and identity of a society? • Can we suppose that the recovery of abandoned buildings could be a virtuous practice not only in terms of sustainability for their enormous potential but also for the role that public landmark centralities can play in social revitalization and urban regeneration?” (Cherchi, 2015, p. 253)
After an initial planning phase and decisions about the future, further steps focus on the implementation. Firstly, involving partners linking back to one of the first steps defining actors (Mısırlısoy & Günçe, 2016), after that colonizing the place to create an interesting space which is basically the opposite of abandonment, and finally funding and running the project are the common steps as part of a project. The most interesting step in this process proposed by Robiglio (2017) is ‘design to reuse’ because it already assumes that the built structure will survive another use and, thus, will in the future be able to accommodate different uses. The integrated approach guarantees a more flexible future running. The author further lays out three steps:
1. “Create common space 2. Wrap functions according to their size and comfort needs [the adaptation of uses to fit the building] 3. Save space for further reuse” (Robiglio, 2017, p. 161)
Overall, even though the starting point is different, the literature suggests a rather similar structure. It is characterized by a two-part structure, with a planning phase first and then a implementation phase. And only Robiglio (2017) really structures the implementation phase in detail and basically goes beyond the decisions.
One effect of adaptive reuse that needs to be mentioned is gentrification, which is the process of the development of an area and the rising higher-income households, changing demography, and so forth. (Bhavsar et al., 2020) Different authors (Chang, 2016; Hatherley, 2019; Immergluck & Balan, 2018; Young, 2008) focus on different angles of reuse and gentrification, but the common theme is about adaptive reuse that drives gentrification. This needs to be acknowledged during an adaptive reuse process.
(Industrial) Buildings and Reuse
A building, like any other built structure, has a life cycle (see figure 4) and on a macro scale it does not matter if the use of the building is residential, industrial, office, retail, etc. Even though there are different built structures discussed in the scientific literature, the main built structure is the same, 11 2. Literature Review consisting of walls. The structure the life cycle normally begins with the design phase, followed by a production phase and the construction of the physical structure, Gervasio and Dimova (2018) show in figure 4, which shows the different loops during a life cycle from an environmental perspective. During the operation phase adaptive reuse can happen. This phase is not restricted to one use only if the physical structure is still sound. If this is not the case the building will sooner or later enter the end-of-life phase. Overall this figure 4 by Gervasio and Dimova (2018) is solely focused on the life cycle of a building but adaptive reuse is multi-facetted and this is only part of the bigger picture. Thus, this figure forms the base for an environmental perspective on adaptive reuse to get to a holistic view.
“… most buildings are not designed to adapt. Architecture is built with the idea of permanence in mind, but since the world is constantly evolving, structures rarely stay the same. Some buildings adapt well to a change of conditions, and others may not be as versatile.“ (Tappe, 2017, p. 22) Industrial buildings provide, compared to other building types, a better base structure for adaptive reuse projects. This is due to the open floor design and a often reinforced structure overall. From the architectural point of view “industrial complexes and buildings are impressive architecturally, both in their size and muted decorations. They were built with practicality in mind – production, efficiency, and sometimes safety of employees.“ (Cantell, 2005, p. 4) Even though they were not directly designed to be adapted they were designed with the idea of flexibility in mind and this flexibility can also be utilized by adaptive reuse. The key wording in this flexibility discussion is “space redundancy (in surface and volume) [which] provides a new form of flexibility at low cost, with the possibility of future expansion of uses in unused built space …“ (Robiglio, 2017, p. 201). This space redundancy is not the only benefit of industrial buildings, “the redundancy in load bearing capacity also enhances flexibility, as it frees the layout of functions in space from structural constraints and allows to insert special functions requiring heavy machinery.“ (Robiglio, 2017, p. 202)
Some of the most popular conversion examples are industrial buildings, and reasons identified of these industrial buildings that are open for new uses are two types of buildings, big sheds and multi- story frames. (Cantell, 2005; Robiglio, 2017) Both provide different opportunities for reuse. While big sheds provide space for uses with big volume requirements like breweries, etc. multi-story frames efficiently house office structures or multi-company structures.
Another benefit of especially industrial areas is the creation of different uses within oneplace. Tourism, creative industries and industrial wasteland often meet in these areas and create a very distinctive space. The following section will show three examples of those multi-facetted effects.
Examples of Adaptive Reuse of Industrial Buildings
Adaptive reuse examples can be found in every city around the world. To show a range of different examples of adaptive reuse three projects were chosen. These are internationally recognized built structures that attract experts as well as tourists. Thus, these projects are well known and can be used as a base for an overview of adaptive reuse.
12 Examples of Adaptive Reuse of Industrial Buildings
The first and probably one of the most known projects worldwide is the Tate Modern in London, Great Britain (see figure 5). The former Bankside Power Station was partly demolished and only the shell was kept. (Hein & Houck, 2008) “The removal of all power station machinery left the structure a brick shell with a steel skeleton. New foundation and roof were added and major reconstruction of the interior was necessary before the transformation into Tate Modern Museum was accomplished in 2000.“ (Hein & Houck, 2008, p. 116) The shell provides a lot of space and this was not only used for the museum but also for public space outside. Today the Tate Modern is one of the most visited museums around the world and the industrial history gives the museum itself a special setting. (Jones, 2013)
Figure 5: Tate Modern Gallery, London (Shutterstock, 2020)
13 2. Literature Review
The Distillery Historic District in Toronto, Canada (see figure 6), is a 13 acres 47 building area between Downtown Toronto and the Portlands. The Gooderham and Worts company evolved from a windmill operation to a major spirits distillery. “The novelty of the Distillery Historic District is its Victorian-style industrial brick buildings, old distilling vats, formation tanks, and other industrial relicts, including pipes, filters, centrifuges, and rotary bottle fillers.“ (Faria, 2011, p. 35) Currently, the Distillery Historic District is a mix of residential and retail spaces, plus a tourist attraction which shows especially during Christmas-time when it is host-space of a Christmas market. Overall, due to extensive maintenance, the area is still structurally sound and is able to host these different uses. (Faria, 2011)
Figure 6: Distillery District, Toronto
14 Examples of Adaptive Reuse of Industrial Buildings
Industrial Buildings in Brooklyn Bridge Park, New York, USA (see figure 7), is an 85 acres park along the East River shore in Brooklyn. Formerly the park was part of the industrial structure of Brooklyn with piers and production facilities. One example is St. Ann’s Warehouse, which is an old tobacco warehouse that was converted into a theatre space in 2005 (Eldredge, 2016). Another example is the old fire boat station that is currently housing an ice-cream shop. Pier 2 is the platform for a roller rink, basketball courts, and a picknick area with the roof structure from the times the pier served its industrial purpose. (Robiglio, 2017) “This incredible mix of infrastructure and programs, reuse and ecology, excitement and peace, monuments and daily life is what attracts all kinds of people here, making the waterfront of Brooklyn Bridge Park a living demonstration of the integrative power of public space in the city – a precious ingredient of democracy.” (Robiglio, 2017, p. 141)
Figure 7: Brooklyn Bridge Park, New York (Antanov, n.d.)
15 2. Literature Review
Buildings as Landmarks
Adapted buildings compared to newly built structures keep their history and identity that would be lost by demolishing and building new ones. This landmark effect is important for public spaces because residents can identify with places and therefore are attached to them. While not all buildings are landmarks in itself each building has a landmark effect due to the attached memories of residents. “Not only are buildings a space where everyday life activities occur, they help define the spatial form of cities. They are filled with cultural symbolism, their architecture can tell stories of local history, and they help create a sense of place. Some become icons of the global economy; others embody a city’s identity.“ (Boschmann & Gabriel, 2013, p. 222) This identity of a building can only be kept if the structure or at least parts of the structure are kept (Boschmann & Gabriel, 2013; Bullen & Love, 2011a, 2011b; Mısırlısoy & Günçe, 2016; Savvides, 2015; Shipley et al., 2006). A different argument for preserving buildings can be the conservation of efforts, skills and dedication of original builders (Bullen & Love, 2011a) or on the other hand the heritage of past residents and their lifestyle and culture (Mısırlısoy & Günçe, 2016). Public space and the influence of these heritage buildings are another one (Savvides, 2015) like connections of residents and their memories (Boschmann & Gabriel, 2013). And lastly the landmark effect from an architectural and cultural perspective and (Bullen & Love, 2011a; Shipley et al., 2006) that “older buildings represent an important aesthetic, cultural and economic resource as well as a non-renewable one.“ (Shipley et al., 2006, p. 505) In summary the landmark effect is important for different reasons for the public and thus an important element of adaptive reuse.
16 Buildings as Landmarks
Figure 8: Worlds Columbian Exposition
17 3. Theoretical Framework
Factors of Adaptive Reuse in Industrial Buildings
But now the question arises what determines and influences an adaptive reuse project. Every scientific study about adaptive reuse uses its own themes and factors that determine the outcome of projects. Robiglio (2016), for example, argues that one of the factors are a “deep understanding of the existing market reality and clear strategic preliminary choices.“ (Robiglio, 2016, p. 13) A different factor according to Bullen and Love (2011a) are projects that add a contemporary layer to heritage buildings. Different authors (Bullen, 2007; P. A. Bullen & P. Love, 2009; P. A. Bullen & P. E. Love, 2009; Bullen & Love, 2011a, 2011b; Mısırlısoy & Günçe, 2016) see different factors as influential, this is why the literature was analyzed and the factors compiled into themes of similar factors. In short, the themes are general, the factors are specific.
The process of adaptive reuse is influenced by diverse factors that determine the successful outcome of a project. These factors range from economic influences to the location and the nearness of the project to important institutions and are seen as themes that emerged through the literature. The scientific literature focuses on some factors but no author and paper includes all. According to this, the following section is a collection of the different factors found throughout the available literature which is furthermore put together into six themes overall. This list of themes and factors will form the structure for the comprehensive framework and thus the analysis later on.
The first and most discussed theme is the economic aspects on the project. “A variety of reasons why many existing buildings would not be considered suitable for adaptive reuse were identified. Purpose designed single use buildings were deemed too difficult to retain and adapt without significant capital expenditure.“ (Bullen & Love, 2011b, p. 39) This importance of capital investment and the risk of investment described here, like for example the primary use, can hinder developers from adapting the building due to the capital investment needed. This is one of the most important factors connected to the adaptive reuse process (Bullen & Love, 2011b). Reconstruction costs due to long obsolescence are a similar factor. But it can be tied together with economic sustainability by describing it the other way around (Faria, 2011). “In instances where the residual value of the original 18 Factors of Adaptive Reuse in Industrial Buildings structure is not recognized or left ignored, demolition and reconstruction may prove wasteful.” (Faria, 2011, p. 15) Assessing the built structure is the main focus point of the scientific literature focused on adaptive reuse (Bullen & Love, 2010, 2011a, 2011b; Cherchi, 2015; Conejos, 2013; Faria, 2011; Gorgolewski, 2008; Russo et al., 2013). Part of another obvious factor influencing the process from the outside are the overall market demands. “In essence, the context is set by the local economy – in terms of its conditioning effect, and the factors that lead to vacancy.” (Ball, 2002, p. 95) Ball connects the market situation back to vacancy, but there is also another effect of bad market situations were developers do not invest in adaptive reuse and this leads to a downward spiral (Wilkinson et al., 2009). Bullen and Love (2011a) found in their research and their questionnaire that 77 percent of the respondents felt adaptive reuse projects have positive impacts on sustainability. Thus, there is conversation about economic sustainability, but it is actually never defined. Overall there are internal and external economic factors that influence successful adaptive reuse and due to the fact that most of today’s decisions are based on economic factors this is also the most researched and discussed theme connected to adaptive reuse. Economic benefits are the key selling point for adaptive reuse projects for developers and there are relative cost savings compared to demolition and building new. (Bullen, 2007; Bullen & Love, 2011b; Mohamed et al., 2017; Shipley et al., 2006) Other benefits can be the “priority to local residents for jobs, fair income, job, living wage jobs, diversification of the economic base and nurturing local businesses.“ (Mohamed et al., 2017, p. 148) These benefits often go hand in hand with benefits in other themes. Fair income, for example, is directly connected to social benefits. Another benefit is the time domain, because buildings can be adapted faster than new buildings can be constructed. (Langston, 2008) “One of the most cited economic barriers to successful adaptive reuse projects is the cumulative cost of site remediation and structural renovation. The presence of harmful substances, such as lead and asbestos, in original building materials may lead to exorbitant remediation costs.” (Faria, 2011, p. 19) Another interesting risk is the increased value of the neighborhood due to new investments (Rodrigues & Freire, 2017; Wilkinson et al., 2009) which can lead to higher housing prices in the neighborhood and thus social disadvantages in turn.
Environmental factors are, compared to economic factors, very clear and focused. It mainly focuses on emissions and embodied energy in the built structure, on the avoidance of solid waste generation, as well as on using more energy and resources then needed (Bullen, 2007; P. A. Bullen & P. Love, 2009; Faria, 2011; Langston, 2008) “An integrated approach to extending the useful life of existing facilities should use adaptation strategies that combine durability and climate change initiatives. Integrating innovative measures with the requirements of climate change adaptation is seen as an immediate task for built environment research.“ (P. A. Bullen & P. Love, 2009, p. 359) Climate change and environmental sustainability are directly linked in most of the literature and overall in the current discourse. Adaptive reuse provides a sustainable opportunity to save emissions and energy, and decrease waste due to construction. Interestingly only the paper by Bullen (2007) and Bullen and Love (2011a) tie that together with a life cycle assessment. The questionnaires conducted by Bullen and Love (2011a) identified that over 32 percent of the respondents view the positive life cycle assessment as a factor that should be considered during an adaptive reuse decision process. Environmental sustainability and life cycle assessments are the only focus points in the scientific literature due to the fact that environmental effects are well researched and brought together in the environmental sustainability movement. The biggest environmental benefit is the saving in resources and energy due to the already existing built structure. (Bullen & Love, 2011b; Gorgolewski, 2008; Langston et al., 2008; Wilkinson et al.,
19 3. Theoretical Framework
2009) This saving in resources is not only a focus during the adaptation process but also afterwards and it is directly connected to the savings of waste. An adapted building will have modern systems and increased insulation and thus needs less energy, but it will also use less ressources and thus produce less waste. Environmental risks are less discussed in the scientific literature. The biggest risk is arguably the reached environmental status after the adaptation process (Bullen & Love, 2011a). “In terms of environmental performance, heritage buildings even after adaptive reuse may not reach the desired standards of new buildings. They may also have reached a state where adaptive reuse is uneconomical or their layout may be inappropriate for any change of function, particularly commercial buildings.“ (Bullen & Love, 2011a, p. 413) These risks are often connected to the economic benefits of a project. If there is an economic benefit to improving the environmental footprint of the building then there will be an improvement.
A highly discussed theme are technical aspects of the building. The most obvious factors are the age and physical condition of the structure. This is very much connected to economic factors because of the needed investments if the building is in bad condition. (Bullen & Love, 2011b) Other important factors are the former use of the building and the orientation of it. It can be argued “that the type of host property is a major factor before transformation. Therefore, the typology must be the key emphasis of adaptation and the original character must be secured as much as possible. The new uses must justify or complement the original function.“ (Hasnain & Mohseni, 2018, p. 2) In direct connection to that is the structural layout of the building. Industrial buildings are beneficial for adaptive reuse because of their open layout. (Wilkinson et al., 2009) The most dangerous factor is the presence of hazardous materials. (Gorgolewski, 2008) This can lead to an interrupted process. Technical aspects overall are one of the most important factors because they are directly connected to other factors like the economic investments due to bad conditions or environmental effects due to hazardous materials. Technical benefits are basically focused around keeping and often improving the built structure. (Bullen & Love, 2011b) This is directly connected to the savings in emissions and resources, but it is also connected to the investment needed and thus the economic benefits and risks for developers. The biggest technical risk are hazardous materials. (Gorgolewski, 2008) These materials can increase the needed investment drastically and scare the investor away or impact citizens or workers if not handled properly. Another risk are buildings that reached their lifespan and are developed even though they should not be because the structure is in bad condition. (Bullen & Love, 2011b)
The location specificcontext of the built structure is basically the only factor that cannot be changed. Even though a special approach is to take the building apart and reassembling it or moving it as a whole, the important factor is the changing use. It can be assumed that the structure is moved due to a better location. The closeness to infrastructure, historic centers, ecological elements and business center can improve the success of an adaptive reuse project. “The locational value attached to an existing structure may include proximity to a main thoroughfare, public transit infrastructure, a commercial hub, or situation within a vibrant and expanding residential community; moreover, existing buildings within urban and suburban settings tend to be pre-serviced by existing necessary utilities and ‘hard’ infrastructure.” (Faria, 2011, p. 14) Especially industrial buildings provide a lot of infrastructure due to their former use. (Robiglio, 2017) Indicators like closeness to infrastructure, historic centers, ecological elements and business center are important to consider according to the literature (Russo et al., 2013). This is why these indicators are used in this research as well. As the context improves the adaptive reuse process, the process also improves the context and location by adding or keeping a landmark. (Boschmann & Gabriel, 2013; Faria, 2011) But compared 20 Factors of Adaptive Reuse in Industrial Buildings to new construction adapted buildings are not able to improve the urban context if the first use and the structure are insufficient in size, orientation, setback, etc. (Faria, 2011) Overall the context is often just researched from the side of how the location can improve the project, but the literature is only rarely researching the impacts of adaptive reuse on the infrastructure, centers, etc.
Social connections to buildings are a part of every citizen and these connections are the determining factors for successful adaptive reuse projects. The value to the local community, due to the age and character of the building, is grounded in the values and meanings which building represents. (Bullen, 2007; Bullen & Love, 2011a; Conejos, 2013) “Citizens associate historic buildings with meanings that are the basis of the sense of belonging to a community and of local identity, and, therefore, safeguarding buildings has positive impacts and promotes living conditions making cities safer and more liveable places.“ (Cherchi, 2015, p. 256) Cherchi thus argues that these buildings are landmark buildings that, if replaced by something else, will change the character of the place and thus of the social community. This leads directly to the next two factors, cultural significance and heritage significance. The two are separated because buildings can have a cultural value even though they do not have a heritage value. Value to the local community, cultural significance, and heritage significance form an integral part of sense of place, which in turn improves the perception of public space. The connection between public space and adapted buildings with values are a barely researched topic. But one author who argued for the importance of these values in public space is Jane Jacobs (1961) in her book ‘The Death and Life of Great American Cities’. She argues that “the district must mingle buildings that vary in age and condition, including a good proportion of old ones. Cities need old buildings so badly it is probably impossible for vigorous streets and districts to grow without them.” (Jacobs, 1961, p. 187) The biggest social benefit is the preserved local culture and a sense of identification. (Langston, 2008; Langston et al., 2008; Robiglio, 2016; Tam & Hao, 2019) “Heritage buildings are cultural icons and their preservation impacts on community well-being, sense of place and therefore social sustainability.“ (Bullen & Love, 2011a, p. 419) This connects also to the accessibility for certain groups that find space in inexpensive places, like abandoned buildings. “In many older industrial environments, there tends to be a high demand for low cost premises by low grade users, and this confirms the important - but not always recognized - role of disused buildings in providing space to potentially kick-start the economy at its base level.“ (Ball, 1999, p. 144) Kickstarting the base level economy only works if the investment needed is not too high. This aspect of having low grade uses is connected to the economic investment and the return of investment for the developer. But what the citation is also referring to is the fact that adaptive reuse has to be an extensive and expensive process. The fact that the building changed its use makes it an adaptive reuse process. As with the positive effect of social connection there can also be negative connections and sometimes destruction is the better option. (Wilkinson et al., 2009) “As adaptive reuse works to facilitate the gentrification of surrounding neighborhoods, new businesses and restaurants are likely to find themselves attracted to the area.” (Young, 2008, p. 708) This gentrification can be found in various projects around the globe and one example is the High Line Park. (Littke et al., 2016) In this regard, the scientific literature is addressing the gentrification problem connected to adaptive reuse from different angles and this thesis touches on gentrification in the different themes (e.g. economic, social, etc.) but without getting into too much detail. (Mohamed et al., 2017) In general, the social risks of this process are less researched then economic and environmental risks.
Dealing with social processes leads to the next emerging theme, regulation and policy aspects, especially legal aspects first. These building regulations structure the taken actions. “City authorities 21 3. Theoretical Framework and regulators form one of the core decision-making agents involved in building adaptation and are able to influence the amount and scope of adaptation through the use of tools such as incentives, legislation, penalties and so forth.” (Wilkinson et al., 2009, p. 52) Especially incentives can help to reinforce adaptive reuse actions and thus are an important factor. Health, safety and accessibility requirements are the key regulations that can hinder adaptive reuse. Due to the historic change of regulations and lifestyles it is sometimes hard to adapt these buildings to modern standards. But, because legal frameworks are different in every city, the research literature is not focusing much on this theme. It is hard to compare and needs a case by case evaluation if there are hindering regulations or incentives. Planning decisions are determined by the planners and developers and can be individually formed for every project. Especially innovative design solutions are important and this need for innovation is arguably due to the uniqueness of these projects. (Conejos, 2013) “While older commercial buildings often do not support passive environmental techniques, it was perceived that existing buildings do provide opportunity to test many new innovative technologies and develop diverse solutions to enhance sustainability (65 per cent).” (Bullen & Love, 2011a, p. 417) Wilkinson and colleagues (2009), who are referring to Ball (1999), “found [that] the negative attributes affecting adaptation were accommodating access issues for people with impairments, planning, inflexible designs, inappropriate external image and accommodating contemporary services requirements.“ (Wilkinson et al., 2009, p. 52) The authors are referring to legal as well as to planning aspects and inappropriate external images lead to the views of different stakeholders. It is important to have a clear image that is similar throughout the different stakeholder groups. And with that, it is also important to consider the importance of governance for a successful project. “The role of participatory governance is well recognized in achieving sustainable development, and in the process of decision- making and in using historic buildings. [...] which is reflected in the satisfaction rate of people in the conservation area.“ (Yung & Chan, 2012, p. 356) A benefit in the regulation and policy process is the innovation that can be incorporated in the process. The adapted building provides an unique opportunity to test the innovations in a different situation than new constructions. A risk is connected to densification urban areas. While new structures are able to densify the area, adapted buildings are not always able to expand and densify (e.g. higher ceiling heights in older buildings). (Faria, 2011) Also, “adaptive reuse can transform heritage buildings into accessible and useable places as well as provide the added benefit of regenerating an area in a sustainable manner.“ (Bullen & Love, 2011a, p. 412) The social aspect of planning is a benefit that is needed to compete with new buildings. If the building is not able to adapt to modern social standards like accessibility it is not suitable for the adaptive reuse process. The biggest risks are the number of active stakeholders and their agendas (Faria, 2011). These can contradict each other and bring the project to a temporary halt. Those planning impacts are often connected to social benefits and risk and fall often under one focus, but the process has its specific characteristics and needs to be separated. Legal benefits are not discussed in the literature, but the risks of adaptive reuse are. “A social argument against adaptation is that the standards required by contemporary buildings are not achievable; for example, indoor air quality, thermal and acoustic performance requirements. Compliance with performance standards will vary depending on the physical form of the building and the end use required.“ (Wilkinson et al., 2009, p. 47) These standards are often oriented towards newly built structures and thus towards a blank space that can be formed as needed. But adapted buildings need to consider standards that are needed for the first and the following use and differentiations of regulations between new and adapted buildings (Wilkinson et al., 2009).
22 Factors of Adaptive Reuse in Industrial Buildings
Themes Factors
capital investment
economic (Bullen, 2007; Bullen & Love, 2010, 2011a, market demands 2011b; Cherchi, 2015; Gorgolewski, 2008; Russo et al., 2013; Wilkinson et al., 2009; Yung & Chan, 2012) reconstruction costs influence on local economy
environmental (Bullen, 2007; Bullen & Love, 2010, emissions 2011a; Cherchi, 2015; Yung & Chan, 2012) embodied energy
age and physical condition
former use of the building
technical (Bullen, 2007; Bullen & Love, 2010, 2011a, structural layout 2011b; Cherchi, 2015; Hasnain & Mohseni, 2018; Wilkinson et al., 2009) presence of hazardous materials ability of building to adapt
orientation of building
nearness to historic center
context (Conejos, 2013; Russo et al., 2013; Wilkinson nearness to ecological elements et al., 2009; Yung & Chan, 2012) nearness to business centers
nearness to infrastructure
cultural significance social (Bullen, 2007; Bullen & Love, 2010, 2011a; Cherchi, 2015; Conejos, 2013; Wilkinson et al., 2009; heritage significance Yung & Chan, 2012) value to local community
stakeholder views
governance regulations and policy (Bullen, 2007; Bullen & Love, 2011a, 2011b; Conejos, 2013; Gorgolewski, 2008; health, safety and accessibility requirements Wilkinson et al., 2009; Yung & Chan, 2012) regulations
planning and design
23 3. Theoretical Framework
The six themes economic, environmental, technical, context, social, and regulations and policy aspects emerged from the literature and are used as a framework for the analysis of the case. They cover the different aspects that need to be considered during an adaptive reuse project. Consequently, this should give a holistic analysis of the following case.
Research Gaps, Aim and Research Questions
While authors like Bullen and Love (2011a), Langston (2008) and Boschmann and Gabriel (2013) have focused on the building side of adaptive reuse, Bullen and Love (2011b), Cherchi (2015), Mısırlısoy and Günçe (2016) and Wilkinson and colleagues (2009) primarily researched the process of successful adaptive reuse. In their analysis some of the authors like Mısırlısoy and Günçe (2016), Robiglio (2017) and Wilkinson and colleagues (2009) identified different themes of how to look on adaptive reuse. But none of the authors identified the combination of the six themes mentioned above. These six themes are advantageous because they provide a more holistic perspective on adaptive reuse and can show conflicts and synergies to better understand the process and cope with difficulties. Thus, one addition to the existing literature is the combination of the six themes and the application of the created framework for sustainable adaptive industrial building reuse. Overall, testing the framework on a specific case will show the applicability of it.
Overall the research aim is to test the created framework for sustainable adaptive reuse and analyze the interplay of the six identified themes (economic, environmental, technical, context, social, and planning) with adaptive reuse. The understanding of this interplay between the adaptive reuse process and the associated areas will enable a more holistic perspective on adaptive reuse and the knowledge of synergies and conflicts helps to utilize synergies and work around conflicts. It will further validate the holistic framework and will help sustainable urban development. The research questions are:
What does a comprehensive framework of adaptive building reuse reveal about actual building projects?
What synergies and conflicts emerge in the application of the comprehensive framework of adaptive building reuse?
How can a comprehensive framework be used to improve adaptive building reuse projects?
The following chapter will outline the methods used to address the research aim followed by a description of the research area. The analysis will form the main part of this thesis and will present the main learning outcomes. These learning outcomes will add to the literature in various different ways. Firstly, the discussion will show that the six chosen themes will cover the analysis from the six most important angles and thus will provide more holistic insights to the process of adaptive reuse then the existing literature.
The second important addition is the fact that this work will outline in the conclusion how to apply the learning about the process from the discussion. This will help the reader to understand how to work with those learnings and this aspect is missing in the literature. While papers focus on particular 24 Research Gaps, Aim and Research Questions parts of the process and how to apply the learnings, none of the papers researched provided one example, the analysis of it, a discussion and then an application of the learning from that project.
Thirdly, the process of The Plant was never researched in detail from an adaptive reuse standpoint, even though it appears as an example in many papers about adaptive reuse. Overall, those three aspects will be discovered in detail in the next chapters.
25 4. Methodology
This chapter will outline the methodological approach which is used to identify the factors connected to adaptive reuse. First, it provides an overview of the research design in general which is followed by a deeper dive into each method used.
But the first step is to establish the ontological view the analysis is viewed with. Due to the nature of the different perspectives on adaptive reuse and the importance of interviews of the different stakeholders it was viewed as critical realism. The researcher can develop a true description of the reality and acknowledges an existence of the social and physical world. (Adolphson, 2019; Al- Saadi, 2014; Romero, 2018) The focus on qualitative work in this thesis points at the critical realistic approach as well. The application of a theoretical framework on a case further points towards a deductive study, it is the application from a general knowledge to a single case.
The thesis is focused on testing the developed framework on the case of The Plant, Chicago; thus, it can be categorized as a case study. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines case study as “an intensive analysis of an individual unit (such as a person or community) stressing developmental factors in relation to environment“ (Merriam-Webster, n.d., para. 1) The individual unit in this case is The Plant situated in Chicago and the developmental factors are the identified themes and factors from the framework on a city, neighborhood, and building scale. As Denzin et al. (2011) stress “the individual unit may be studied in a number of ways, for instance qualitatively or quantitatively, analytically or hermeneutically, or by mixed methods. This is not decisive for whether it is a case study or not; the demarcation of the unit’s boundaries is.“ (Denzin et al., 2011, p. 301) It is thus important to clearly define the case, which is the building, plus the attached gardens. Another aspect Flyvbjerg (Denzin et al., 2011) is arguing for is the relation to the environment, thus the context. This is pointing towards the importance of an analysis at least partially focused on spatial phenomena. The effects of the process show in the surrounding environment as well as on and in the building itself. While the building and the business structure within the building will be discussed later on it is important to mention that the developing and operating company focuses on closed-loop systems within the building. Every project has its unique character, and The Plant does too. To address the criticism of single case studies in theses it is important to mention that these unique characteristics
26 Research Design of projects add to existing knowledge through an analysis of such projects while still researching research gaps.
Important to stress here is the aim of the thesis of testing the constructed framework. While The Plant can be seen as the case study, the main focus is the applicability of the framework and if all aspects can be analyzed on a specific case; in this case The Plant. The outcomes and learnings have a holistic conclusion with learnings for the field of adaptive reuse.
Research Design
To better understand the process of adaptive reuse and address and answer the research questions, a mixed methods approach brought results that are conclusive enough to compare and combine the results and draw conclusions from them. Interviews and site visits build the qualitative part while a GIS-analysis is the spatial work. In addition, a qualitative desk-based study will add even more information and a triangulation of the different methods will be the core of the results and discussion chapter.
“Most qualitative studies build on the assumption that certain areas of social life are intrinsically qualitative. For this reason, qualitative data are not imprecise or deficient but are very meaningful.“ (Lawrence Neuman, 2014, p. 176/177) The combination of interviews and site visits built a two- stage process in which it was possible to check ambiguities and abnormalities from the interviews or the site visits. The desk study of secondary data was the main method for the literature review and overall from an information gathering point. Due to the distance between Europe and America and the circumstances with COVID-19 this method was most effective because it was flexible, the most accurate one and it had the biggest opportunities in the end. “To summarize, we think about and make decisions regarding measurements in quantitative studies before we gather data. The data are in a standardized, uniform format: numbers. In contrast, in a qualitative study, most of our thinking and measurement decisions occur in the midst of gathering data, and the data are in a diffuse forms.” (Lawrence Neuman, 2014, p. 205)
Stakeholder Interviews
Semi-structured interviews with stakeholders and experts was one of the main methods used in this thesis. They provided the opportunity to explore different perspectives from the different stakeholders. “By interviews, we mean face-to-face verbal exchanges in which one person, the interviewer, attempts to acquire information from and gain an understanding of another person, the interviewee.“ (Rowley, 2012, p. 260) This process can have different structures (structured, semi- structured or open interviews) and, in this case, the chosen type were semi-structured interviews because this type of interviews offered the opportunity to have in-depth follow-up questions while keeping an ongoing overall structure. (Longhurst, 2003) This structure is important for comparability reasons, but at the same time, due to the single case analyzed the comparability can be neglected.
Interviewees for the case The Plant in Chicago were the founder, the CEO and two employees. All four have been interviewed within the framework of the prepared questions with opportunity to
27 4. Methodology dive deeper into some areas. Important to mention is that the city government and the contacted research firm were not available for interviews or declined being part of this thesis. In the first place, the available partners were interviewed in person, and, for further questions, via phone or via e-mail. They were selected through a first research process and contacted via e-mail. The first step was to identify the different stakeholders, followed by a web-search for the people in these positions. The first interviews were conducted at The Plant in a casual round table atmosphere and the duration ranged from 30 minutes up to an hour. All interviews were recorded with a phone and afterwards transcribed. The audio file as well as the transcript is kept secure due to confidentiality reasons. The structure of the interviews and the notes from those can be found in the Appendix A. Furthermore, all participants signed a participant consent form to give a clear understanding of the handling process with data.
Stakeholder Interviewed Founder of The Plant (John Edel) Yes CEO of Plant Chicago (Jonathan Pereira) Yes Employee (Tessa Vierk) Yes Employee (Carolee Kokola) Yes Research Not Official
Site Visits
Site visits were the second part of the personal visits at The Plant. “Site visits can also be used to inform a larger evaluation effort. … Not only could the site visit employ mixed approaches in terms of the different perspectives of site visitors and different procedures; but, also the larger evaluation effort would, no doubt, incorporate other methodologies as well.” (Lawrenz et al., 2003, p. 345) The combination of interviews and site visits, as mentioned above, formed a structure that was conclusive with the benefit that site visits show the current status, while interviews can and will include results about the temporal process.
The visits happened during different times of the day and, with and without employees of The Plant. “One of the things that distinguishes a site visit from other approaches, and from case studies in particular, is the limit on the amount of time spent. … Site visits, in contrast, are designed to produce evaluative information after a visit of generally 1–3 days.” (Lawrenz et al., 2003, p. 345) The site visits happened on different days during a time span of three months (August – September). This was due to the geographic distance of the project and the connected travels. A walk around the surrounding area and the building itself was done in total four times with different routes to get different angles on the elements. Each of these walks took around an hour and photographs were taken to show the situation in and around the project. Each walk was different with different routes to see the case from different angles. The photographs appear continuously throughout the whole thesis. The approach of site visits was two-phased. The first visit was conducted before the first interviewed withthe idea behind to have a more unaffected and open-minded first impression. The following visits were conducted with the knowledge of the interviews and thus had the different approach and focus of validating the received information’s from the interviews. Overall, the site visits provided valuable insight into the different areas of The Plant and some examples of solutions connected to adaptive reuse problems (e.g. figure 14 – 16).
28 GIS-Analysis
• Aug. 8th 2019 – 18:00 – 19:00 (GMT-5) • Aug. 9th 2019 – 14:00 – 15:00 (GMT-5) • Aug. 11th 2019 – 10:00 – 12:00 (GMT-5) • Sep. 26th 2019 – 14:00 – 14:30 (GMT-5)
GIS-Analysis
As a complimentary analysis approach to the two qualitative methods of interviews and site visits, the GIS-analysis, was the chosen method. “Data analysis gives meaning to the research findings and allows trends to be identified. … It is important to transform raw data into a more workable form to identify themes within the research and understand issues which have arisen.“ (Kean, 2015, p. 34) Due to the wide range of themes that emerged from the literature review, GIS-analysis provided the most efficient opportunity to analyze the themes in case of The Plant.
GIS-analysis had the benefit of spatially visualizing data for the reader. “GIS allows users to visualize (i.e., map) geographic aspects of data including locations or spatial concentrations of phenomena of interest.“ (Teixeira, 2018, p. 10) The literature review showed that the current research literature was almost never using GIS-analysis as a method to study the contribution of adaptive reuse to the neighborhood. But due to the fact that a building was part of a bigger system, it was important to include the different scales (building, neighborhood and city) into the analysis. And, from this perspective geo-based data was the most effective. This applies especially to the theme ‘context’ which looks at the bigger context of the building. But because the themes are interconnected the GIS-analysis is important for the understanding overall.
The Open Government Data (OGD) provided by the city of Chicago (City of Chicago, 2020a) was extensive and was a good source for the GIS-analysis. The data was open for everyone and available on the city’s website. “The City of Chicago‘s open data portal lets you find city data, lets you find facts about your neighborhood, lets you create maps and graphs about the city, and lets you freely download the data for your own analysis. Many of these datasets are updated at least once a day, and many of them are updated several times a day.“ (City of Chicago, 2020a) The provided data by the city of Chicago had the benefit of available data on a city and a neighborhood scale. This had the advantage that the data was conclusive on the different scales and that there were no major irregularities.
Datasets used:
• Boundaries - Neighborhoods • Boundaries - ZIP Codes • Boundaries - Enterprise Zones • Boundaries - Wards (2015-) • Boundaries - Community Areas (current) • Boundaries - Census Blocks - 2010 • Boundaries - Industrial Corridors • Building Footprints (current) • Waterways • Census Data - Selected socioeconomic indicators in Chicago, 2008 – 2012 29 4. Methodology
• Business Licenses • Landmark Districts • Individual Landmarks • Current boundaries of Chicago Park District • Street Center Lines • Major Streets • CTA - Bus Stops - Shapefile • CTA - Bus Routes - Shapefile • CTA - ‚L‘ (Rail) Stations - Shapefile • CTA - ‚L‘ (Rail) Lines - Shapefile • Metra Stations • Metra Lines
Desk Study of Secondary Data The desk-based study focuses on secondary data found on the internet and library. Secondary data is data already collected and interpreted by someone else. (Corti & Seaman, 2014) In the case of this thesis the desk study focuses on scientific papers about adaptive reuse and data about the city of Chicago, mainly official government papers. These papers show the strategies for the city of Chicago and can be analyzed especially for the theme of ‘regulations and policy’. Policy papers and websites considered during the research were:
• Website of the City of Chicago (https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/dcd/supp_info.html) o Chicago Sustainable Development Policy Handbook o Industrial Corridor Modernization Initiative o Community and Strategic Plans o Chicago Climate Action Plan o Small Business Improvement Fund • Sustain Chicago (https://sustainchicago.cityofchicago.org/) • Urban Land Institute (https://chicago.uli.org/programs/uli-in-the-community/partnership- building-reuse/) • BISNOW (https://www.bisnow.com/tags/chicago-adaptive-reuse-projects)
Methodological Limitations
Even though the research was conducted in the best interest of a sound research, it has to be acknowledged that the number of interviews is rather small. (Newcomer et al., 2015) This happened due to the fact that the case is a smaller project with only a limited number of employees. The contributing stakeholders are the focus of the interviews to have input from the most important stakeholder groups. But the founder, during the interview, did not mention any other stakeholders and did not even consider partners to be named stakeholders due to their small involvement. In addition, the research group and the city government were not available for official interviews which; consequently, had to be acknowledged as a missing element in the research. But to counter this problem, research papers about Chicago’s adaptive reuse project and official city government papers were conducted.
The fact that this thesis is structured around a single case study is also a limiting factor. Case 30 Methodological Limitations studies can be criticized to be too small of a sample size to draw general conclusions. (Flyvbjerg, 2006) But even a single case provides learnings and can add information to the existing knowledge by just adding another example or layer to it. “For the reasons given above, the case study is a necessary and sufficient method for certain important research tasks in the social sciences, and it is a method that holds up well when compared to other methods in the gamut of social science research methodology.” (Flyvbjerg, 2006, p. 241) Thus this case of The Plant adds, especially in combination with a literature review and the other methods, learnings about this case to the bigger pool of knowledge about adaptive reuse.
The accessibility of data about Chicago was difficult due to the availability on the internet and the fact that most of the data is based on the census data and thus is only available for certain years. This makes it hard to compare different time-phases, which is made even harder with the complex system of exporting certain parts of data. This takes away the opportunity of checking the objective correctness of the interviewee’s answers.
One of the most obvious limitations is the missing interview from neighbors, especially with the interesting location of The Plant in mind; between a residential, a business and an industrial area. Both the business and the industrial neighbors were not able to get in contact with. And the residential neighbors right next to the building were not at home during the visits of the area.
Overall, even though there are limitations, it can be argued that the combination of methods used and thorough research provide a master thesis which adds scientific knowledge to the existing one.
31 5. Findings & Discussion
1673 Chicago‘s written history begins Chicago’s History 1803 Fort Dearborn Chicago’s written history began in 1673 when Marquette and Joliet explored the established site during an expedition, but before that Indian tribes lived in the area. In 1803 Fort Dearborn was established, which was one of the first infrastructure buildings. 1830 First map of Thompson draws the first plat map in 1830, three years Chicago got incorporated Chicago as a town and another four years later it got incorporated as a city. “By 1859, Chicago had acquired the three key institutions that defined the future of its grain 1833 trade: the elevator warehouse, the grading system, and, linking them, the privately Incorporated as regulated central market governed by the Board of Trade.” (Cronon, 1991, p. 120) town The Board of Trade was founded in 1848 and is part of the economic rise of the city. In the same year Chicago’s first railroad and the Illinois and Michigan Canal 1837 were completed, which made the city one of the most connected cities in the US. Incorporated as “In 1885 Chicago gave the world its first skyscraper, the 10-story Home Insurance city Building.” (History.com Editors, 2018, para. 6) The Chicago Union Stockyards were completed in 1865 as another addition to the economic structures in 1848 Chicago. While the grain trade and the railroad boosted the city development, the Board of Trade founded great fire of 1871 destroyed large areas of the city. 1893 marked the high point of Chicago’s development when the city hosted the World’s Columbia Exposition (see figure 8). (Larson, 2003) Burnham’s Plan of Chicago (1909) laid out a new Chicago‘s first development and structure of the city. Even though it was never fully implemented railroad due to the great depression the plan influenced following planners. During the war times the history of Chicago was characterized by multicultural movements and riots. “Between 1950 and 1960 Chicago’s population shrank for the first time in Illinois a. Michigan its history, as factory jobs leveled off and people moved to the suburbs.“ (History. Canal completed com Editors, 2018, para. 10) For the development of the city the openings of Midway (1927) and O’Hare airport (1963) and the completion of Sears Tower mark important events. (Chicago Public Library, 2020) Today “Chicago remains a center of trade: Airports supplement the old rail and water transit hubs, and 32 The Union Stockyards agricultural futures are traded electronically from the floor of its storied Mercantile 1855 Exchange.“ (History.com Editors, 2018, para. 11) First skyscraper built
1865 The Union Stockyards Union-Stockyards completed The Union Stockyards (see figure 9) South of Chicago’s Center were initially planned to avoid the city’s antipollution regulations. At that time the location of the 1871 area was just outside the city limits. Most importantly all nine railroads were able The Great Fire to run tracks to the new location and thus connectivity was ensured. The Union Stockyards opened in 1865 but it took several years for meatpackers to move to the newly designated area. “The railroads never were able to agree to consolidate 1872 passenger rail terminals, but the stockyards served as sort of a giant Union First mail order Station or O’Hare for the livestock, complete with waiting rooms and restaurants.“ catalog (Municipal Reference Guy, 2014, para. 2) Meatpackers were situated to the west of the area and alleys connected the trains with the packing houses. (Knapp, 1879 1924) “The packers also began making use of what had previously been wasted Art Institute founded parts of the animal. Cattle byproducts included glue, candles, buttons, combs and pipes. Hogs yielded sausage casings and lard. As for sheep, their parts were made into soap and even tennis and violin strings.” (Landers, 2015, para. 4) 1889 J. Adams founds The high point of the Union Stockyards was between 1890 and 1930 were up to Hull House 25 percent of Chicago’s worker were employed in related businesses. But after World War II the stockyards saw a fast decline due to the emerging truck industry. (Pacyga, 2015) “By 1960, Chicago’s major packing plants had closed down. In Town of Lake annexed
1893 Worlds Columbian Exposition
1900 Chicago River reversed
1909 Burnham‘s Plan of Chicago
1916 Navy Pier completed
1925 Peer-Foods building opened
Figure 9: The historic Union Stockyards (Tribune historical, 2015)
33 5. Findings & Discussion
1927 1971, six years after celebrating its centennial, the Union Stock Yard, too, ceased Municipal Airport operations.“ (Landers, 2015, para. 11) opened
1963 O‘Hare Airport The Plant opened The Plant (see figure 10) as part of the neighborhood Back of the Yards is situated in the area of the old Union Stockyards. “Built in 1925, the building now known 1973 Sears Tower as The Plant functioned as a pork-processing facility for almost 85 years until completed Peer Foods moved out, leaving many of the functional basics behind.“ (The Plant, n.d.-a, para. 6) These functional basics are an integral part of the concept The 2010 Plant integrates. Bubbly Dynamics acquires building A repurposed industrial meatpacking facility, The Plant now serves as a living laboratory that demonstrates techniques for reimagining waste as a resource, achieving economies of scale and incubating small businesses. The goal of The Plant is to create replicable models for efficiencies that close loops of waste and energy and to encourage others to implement these techniques to combat climate change. - The Plant (n.d.-a, para. 1)
This interesting approach of The Plant is twofold. Firstly, it is focused on the environmental performance of the building and the businesses within and secondly, the focus is on business innovation. The combination of both aspects makes The Plant special because both drive each other forward. Innovation is necessary to improve the environmental performance of the building and businesses and the gain performance and reputation will invite more innovation.
Established in 2002, Bubbly Dynamics is dedicated to incubating small businesses in formerly vacant, industrial buildings located in disinvested communities. … Bubbly Dynamics’ staff of seven full- and part-time employees is based at our current project, The Plant, and focuses on all aspects of facility development, from hands-on build-out to development of smart building technologies. - Bubbly Dynamics LLC (n.d., para. 2)
Bubbly Dynamics, the operator of The Plant, chose this building due to the former use as a food processing factory. This means that the building complied to food- grade standards and can easily be used for food related industries without major work. Another benefit of the initial use are the reinforced floors, aseptic surfaces, etc. (Robiglio, 2017) “The heart of this building, which will enable it to perform its operations, keep 10,000 tons of food waste out of landfills and produce heat and power for the building, is the anaerobic digester – a system that uses micro- organisms to break down biodegradable matter and can be used to produce bio- gas, a product of these natural systems.“ (Vinnitskaya, 2012, para. 2) Around that system is a variety of systems and businesses that will contribute to or utilize the anaerobic digester (see figure 12). The Plant is not only focused on production and physical output but also on research and knowledge output.
34 The Plant
At The Plant, we have explored sustainable strategies for the overall project as a whole as well as for sub-projects within the facility. Our approaches include a broad variety of strategies, from low-cost building redevelopment to smart metering systems to efficient business operations practices that can be applied to organizations of any kind. - The Plant (n.d.-b, para. 2)
This symbiosis of the different systems and businesses distinguishes The Plant from other projects that used an adaptive reuse strategy. The open floor structure and other physical attributes of the industrial building provide a beneficial platform for this sort of symbiotic multi-business system.
Housed within The Plant was until 2020 Plant Chicago, a non-profit which focuses on equipping “people and businesses with the tools to live more sustainably through community-driven, hands- on programs and innovative research projects.” (Plant Chicago, 2020, para. 1) A lot of interactions with the local community were run by Plant Chicago (e.g. workshops, etc.). While The Plant is profit-oriented Plan Chicago is a non-profit and this combination complements each other with their intentions.
Figure 10: The Plant Garden
35 5. Findings & Discussion
Findings and Discussion
This next part is structured around the six themes and underlying factors identified, which will in the end be a test of the developed framework and show how these six themes all play an important role in the adaptive reuse process and the effects of it. The three applied methods consisting of interviews, site visits and GIS-data analysis are brought together in this chapter. Each method is important but not all are applied in every theme. This is due to the scale and the focus of the results, and applicability of the methods. The findings are further discussed to give an understanding of what the individual finding mean and how they are related to each other.
Economic Factors
Nevertheless, it is difficult to balance the desire to preserve older buildings for historical and aesthetic reasons, the need for regeneration, and the legitimate expectation of owners to make their properties profitable. - Shipley et al. (2006, p. 506)
The economic influences connected to a project like The Plant in Chicago are diverse with the capital investment as the most obvious one. Capital investment is the investment a developer needs to make to realize the planned project. The building was purchased for around half a million US Dollars, which is, compared to other buildings with similar size, on the low end and gave Bubbly Dynamics, the developer, room for further investments. (Edel, Founder) A lot of literature is based on the idea that adaptive reuse has a high risk attached to it due to the high investments and that it is cheaper to tear down and build new. Peter A. Bullen’s (2007) interviews show that more than half of the respondents see ‘the location of the building in terms of market opportunities’ and ‘estimated economic viability compared to the redevelopment’ as a barrier to the process of adaptive reuse. Thus, there is a considerable amount of developers who hesitate to apply the adaptive reuse concept due to financial barriers and risks. The inexpensive purchase of the old Peer Foods building kept this risk lower and even though it was clear that Bubbly Dynamics planned to purchase a building and create a closed-loop production system, this gave them more opportunities. (Vierk, Employee) Furthermore it is important to mention that tearing down does not exclude the possibility of hazardous materials or other complication, which are similar in both the adaptive reuse process as well as in the tear down and new construction process.
Interestingly even the reconstruction costs were kept reasonable. “The relative costs, related benefits and constraints of reuse vs demolition and new build have received widespread debate, [arguably] the costs of reusing buildings are lower than the equivalent costs of demolition. It is potentially cheaper to adapt than to demolish and rebuild inasmuch as the structural components already exist, and the cost of borrowing is reduced, as contract periods are typically shorter.” (Bullen & Love, 2011b, p. 33) The total reconstruction costs of the old Peer Foods company building have to be seen from two different angles. First, the pure reconstruction costs were reasonable due to the reuse of different parts left from the former users as well as the good shape of the built structure itself. But it is important to mention that even with the good condition of the building, new pipe and leveling the building were still needed and only after that could the economic focus shift elsewhere. Examples for the reuse of leftover parts are the restrooms which are basically converted meat-smokers. This reuse enables the operator to keep the expenses low while providing and using basic infrastructure.
36 Economic Factors
The Plant has spaces and rooms filled with different parts for future constructions of parts of the closed-loop system or other infrastructure.
The second type of reconstruction costs were the expenses connected in order to adapt the building to this low emission closed-loop system. One of the biggest investments is the anaerobic digester (around $4MM according to Kokola, Employee) that will provide necessary energy by processing food waste (see figure 12). So, while the first type of investment saves money relatively, the second type has more room for different investments to improve and individualize the project. Due to savings in structural investments adapted buildings can provide the benefit of other investments. Important here is the structural soundness of the building to save the otherwise necessary investments. In this case, The Plant shows that a sound building opens up new possibilities to, in this case, reduce emissions with new systems. The effective use of investments is important because otherwise some developers tend to save on structural components, etc. “A … impediment is created where economic constraints force sub quality construction or manufacturing to take place.” (Bullen, 2007, p. 21) This is one of the aspects were The Plant can act as a blueprint for other projects. The cost effectiveness is a key indicator of success and also The Plant is profit-oriented (Edel, Founder) and needs to invest smart.
Market demands, as another influence, can drive the direction of the investments that were made. Economic sustainability is currently driving investments around the world (Pezzey, 1992) and the success and global attention of The Plant (Vinnitskaya, 2012) prove this. The third connection between the project and the topic of economy is the local economy which can be seen in three different ways. First, The Plant and the partnering companies are employing and; therefore, creating jobs in the local area either directly or through expenses of employees. Langston et al argue that “…
Map 6: Number of Retail Jobs by Zip Code in Chicago, 2015 Map 5: Number of Retail Jobs by Zip Code in Chicago, 1970
2333 1588 1273 4221
819 279 531 1445
570 698 22334 22334 2016 2794 1240 881 1690 1499
1026 971 5529 1147 3776 4131 14910 1884 3475 1485 2005 2368 4144 1494 2930 2351 2115 10253 340 5457
6619 2465 3638 3469 3240 3131
5246 16206 3579 1246 4928 459 6978 13181
2669 429 382 738 5179 18672 2643 3195 986 2983
2184 2192 981 1202 1739 1938
255 891 1849 11646 2275 2071 861 1813
1283 340 2036 1395 325 2707 965 1749 2852 2224
566 1299
2936 1776 1325 2086 2558 1917
1332 3577
1059 2455 470 594 Number of Retail 680 Number of Retail 3628 Jobs by Zip Code, 2015 Jobs by Zip Code, 1970 0 - 1000 0 - 1000 1001 - 3000 1001 - 3000
156 3001 - 5000 0 1.25 2.5 5 3001 - 5000 Miles 0 1.25 2.5 5 5001 - 10000 ° 5001 - 10000 Miles ° 10001 - 18672 Numbers suppressed to avoid disclosure of individual data 10001 - 18672
Data Source: 2015 Where Workers Work. Illinois Department of Employment Security. Data Source: 1970 Where Workers Work. Illinois Department of Employment Security. Map Prepared by Great Cities Institute, University of Illinois at Chicago. Map Prepared by Great Cities Institute, University of Illinois at Chicago.
Figure 11: Employment (Córdova & Wilson, 2017) xx xix
37 5. Findings & Discussion refurbishment generates 25% more employment than new building construction per square metre of floor space as a result of the typical labor-intensive activities involved in renovation.” (Langston et al., 2008, p. 1712) The second way is the influence of the bar and restaurant, the educational courses, the tours and other ways The Plant and Plant Chicago draws people to the area who are spending their money in the neighborhood. Overall the local economy sees a drop of employers (see figures 11 & 13) which argues against the success of the actions The Plant takes. Figure 11 shows a drop of employment in the area to around 15 percent of what it was 45 years earlier. Interestingly figure 13 indicates an increase in total businesses which leads to the conclusion that medium businesses shrank and small businesses with less employees increased. But the declining, diverse local economy is also a global trend (Collits, 2000; Daniels et al., 2007) and thus it is hard to argue that this is directly connected to the adaptive reuse project. But Bullen and Love connect the two terms, adaptive reuse and the changing market demands, by stating that “apart from the natural depreciation of the buildings fabric and systems, their effectiveness is impacted by changing market demands.” (Bullen & Love, 2011b, p. 42) Another important consideration here is the location of The Plant. Even though it will be discussed in more detail later it is important to mention here that the building is not situated directly in an economic zone and thus the influence is smaller compared to other projects.
Consequently, the economic connection is quite important for an adaptive reuse project such as The Plant. It is beneficial for both sides of the combination and turns out to be a so-called win-win situation. Moreover, the consideration of economic details will decrease certain risks that would otherwise hinder developers’ interests.
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c c c cc c c c c c cc c c c cc c c c Legend c c c c c cc cc c c c c c c c c The Plant c c c c Businesses2019 c c cc c Businesses2009 c c Buildings c c c c Water 0 0,05 0,1 0,2 c ¯ c Miles c c c Figure 12: Anaerobic Digester (Lott, 2019) Figure 13: Businesses (City of Chicago,c 2020a; map c c created by author) c cc c c 38 Environmental Factors
Environmental Factors
An integrated approach to extending the useful life of existing facilities should use adaptation strategies that combine durability and climate change initiatives. Integrating innovative measures with the requirements of climate change adaptation is seen as an immediate task for built environment research. - P. A. Bullen and P. Love (2009, p. 359)
Environmental influences focus mainly on emissions from different cycles. “Environmental benefits from rehabilitation arise through the recycling of materials, reuse of structural elements and the reduction in generated landfill waste.“ (Langston, 2008, p. 10) This is the same at The Plant with the repurposed Peer-Foods company building. The reinforced ceilings and floors, for example, open up opportunities for more companies with requirements like that without adding or subtracting any elements (Kokola, Employee). A closed-loop system (see Appendix B) within the structure efficiently utilizes the characteristics of the old meatpacking building. A brewery works as an anchor-tenant and provides the fuel for the anaerobic digester and fertilizer for agricultural processes and uses the loading docks, aseptic surfaces, reinforced floors with good drainage systems and other elements from the former meatpacking times. (Edel, Founder) “So, in this case, it was a fully food production building and so it made sense to make it exclusively food production because we have these brick floors with floor drains, and aseptic surfaces, so food grade surfaces. Infrastructure is very expensive if you have to install it and so it is best to reuse what is already there.” (Edel, Founder)
One of the overlooked features of older buildings is the built structure itself and the use of materials. “… many older buildings employ massive construction in their external envelope, which can reduce energy consumption in heating and cooling through passive design and deliver long-term operational efficiencies.” (Langston, 2008, p. 10) Beneficial is not only the external envelope in terms of insulation but also the lower percentage of windows which saves energy from cooling systems. Some companies and systems inside work more efficient with less sunlight and heat. This structural characteristic is already existing, does not need adaption and saves emissions. But some “windows that face South and West have indoor window shades that are kept closed …” (Kokola, Employee) Even though the building has less windows than others it still needed adaptation. Benefit is the flexibility of tenants who need sunlight and others that do not. The indoor shades can be changed immediately and thus fits the idea of adaptive reuse. Plus, the orientation of the building plays an integral role in saving energy, especially in combination with not needing windows. The saved emissions through the use of light save valuable emissions and is a major factor if compared to new construction. “… contrary to popular belief, a new high-performance commercial building could take 25-42 years (depending on climate region) to reach the carbon equivalency of a retrofitted building – largely due to the negative environmental impacts of the construction process and the manufacturing and delivery of new materials.” (Boschmann & Gabriel, 2013, p. 224) This difference in years to reach the carbon equivalency, in short emission equivalent to a time period, is at least partly dependent on this need to adapt the external envelope. And The Plant received funds for new windows which were installed to replace the old poorly insulated ones and help to bring the heating costs and emissions down.
While structural components like those provide opportunities, they are also complex to add afterwards. This would increase embodied emissions and can be a hindrance for adaptive reuse. But, as The Plant shows, if the use afterwards is rather clear the choice for a building can add structural incentives and open up opportunities. Mısırlısoy and Günçe (2016) back that up by arguing that “one of the
39 5. Findings & Discussion biggest mistakes in [the] adaptive reuse process of architectural heritage in the practice is to apply all necessary conservation actions, to finish the interventions and then deciding the new use at the end.” (p. 97) Thus a vision for the later use is necessary to avoid environmentally harmful reuse processes and increased emissions afterwards.
But while the use was clear from the beginning and works efficiently right now does not mean that is beneficial long term because with those buildings and their specific history the new owner, in this case Bubbly Dynamics LLC. is also partly stuck in that use without major investments, which would in turn increase emissions again. While food production works, residential housing would need major adaptions of the built structure with new windows, a different floor layout and a different sanitary approach.
On the other hand, to have an environmentally conscious adaptive reuse process the former use and the provided features of the structure are necessary. “So, The Plant concept originally was planned for a much larger warehouse building that is there. We ended up not being able to acquire that building and so that one would have included food and indoor agriculture, but it was not intended to be a food business incubator, more a general incubator.” (Edel, Founder) So, instead if forcing the new use into a building, which seems to be the popular approach currently, Bubbly Dynamics LLC. decided to adapt the concept to the new building.
Another part of emission savings is the creative use of bulky or fixed objects within the built structure. One example here are the old smoking ovens from the meatpacking times that were basically built into the structure. To use the space that would otherwise be unused or taken apart with massive expenses these are now used as restrooms (see figure 14). Stormwater recapture systems, smart
Figure 14: Restrooms
40 Technical Aspects metering or carbon dioxide capture and reuse are just some systems incorporated into the system of The Plant. (The Plant, n.d.-a) All of these are selected to create a more efficient and less emitting system. This is especially important from the rising energy costs point of view. (Bullen & Love, 2011b) The Plant shows that one of the most important factors for a successful adaptive reuse project is a consideration of the needs for the new planned use.
Between the vision for the new building and a structurally sound building and proper old use is a big gap which can hide many risks that would drive up the emissions but also the needed investments. The Plant with the vision beforehand and an adequate building kept, due to careful development, the risk low.
Technical Aspects
Older buildings, however, may not comply with present regulations, particularly in the area of fire safety, which may generate some structural changes or additional protective measures. - Langston (2008, p. 10)
Technical aspects of the built structure play an integral role in the adaptive reuse process. The first aspect is the orientation of the building which is important in some cases with the reason of the sun helping or preventing the processes within the building. In case of The Plant, some windows are barricaded due to needs of the processes within (see figure 15). It can be as easy as the sun warming up the rooms too much but also the sun changing conditions in the laboratory. Even though The Plant improved this aspect of the building by putting new windows in, it can be argued that the most
Figure 15: Barricaded Windows
41 5. Findings & Discussion flexible solution for different businesses and requirements is to barricade the windows if needed. New windows help energy wise, thus are beneficial from an environmental perspective but to provide even more shade and to have a flexible space that can be used by different businesses during the time, barricading the windows, if needed, is the easiest solution from a technical standpoint.
The biggest risk of adaptive reuse from a technical point of view is the presence of hazardous materials. Leftovers (e.g. tanks, smokers, pipes) from the former owner can arguably be considered as hazardous materials if treated wrong and they can also increase the needed investment to get rid of it; but, The Plant shows that left-behind salvage can be reused as well, which has the benefit of deceased emissions and resources needed (Bullen & Love, 2011b).
The most obvious consideration in the adaptive reuse process are the age and physical condition of the built structure. Bullen and Love (2011b) argue that one of the three main determining factors is the asset condition, besides capital investment and regulations. In case of The Plant the built structure was in well-kept condition. The Peer Foods building was in operation until 2010 with improvements until the end (Vierk, Employee). One of the bigger investments in the latest history were the smokers (that are now used as restrooms). Those are heavy and thus the floors had to be structurally in good condition. (Edel, Founder) Bullen (2007) found in the conducted interviews that the ‘technical ability of buildings to adapt’ is, with 74% who identified it as a factor, one of the most important ones and confirms the point that industrial buildings with the open layout can be a perfect platform for adaptive reuse.
These aspects tie directly together with the former use of the building and the benefits of the specific characteristics of the building. The advantage of the old Peer Food building, like most other
Figure 16: Open Floor Layout
42 Technical Aspects
industrial buildings, is the open layout or the reinforced ceilings and the existing drainage system (as mentioned above). The open layout provides opportunities for different new uses (see figure 16) and The Plant utilizes this aspect more than some other examples of adaptive reuse. Breweries, agricultural production as well as fish farming, chocolate manufacturing, etc. are just some types of production within The Plant. (The Plant, n.d.-a) All of them have different requirements for the building and industrial buildings, like the Peer Foods building, with the open floor layout, reinforced floors and ceilings, etc. provide the best platform for a system like that with different types of production. “Not all unique heritage features that might provide character, sales appeal or convenience need to be so spectacular. Many existing warehouse-type buildings simply provide big open, flexible spaces that can be used in a variety of ways.” (Shipley et al., 2006, p. 508) But the adaptive reuse process is not solely focused on industrial buildings and other types of buildings can act as major restrictions for projects with a rather clear vision. If not considered beforehand and with rising investments the adaptive reuse process is often found to be the guilty factor, even though the considerations were wrong.
One of the employees of The Plant stresses that “the trickiest thing has been converting a single- occupant building into a multi-tenant building.” (Kokola, Employee) This is an aspect that is not really talked about in the literature but needs deeper consideration. While an industrial building among others provide open space it also often requires a change in the tenant structure and thus adaptation that needs to be considered during the process of adaptive reuse. Bullen (2007) found in his interviews that 89% of the respondents see ‘the opportunity for technical innovation’ as positive. But it is also important to mention that not all uses are suited for this from an environmental perspective. Some uses need new walls or other adaptation that would increase the needed resources. This connects ! ! directly to the ability! of the building to adapt. The open layout of industrial buildings provides an open ! !
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!! !!
! Legend ! ! ! !! ! ! ! !! !!! ! ! ! The Plant !! !! !! !! ! ! ! Transportationnetwork Expressway ! ! !! ! Arterials !! ! Collectors !! Other Streets !! !! !! Named Alleys Tiered Legend Ramps ! The Plant ! ! ! ! Extent ! ! CTA Bus Stops Sidewalk Buildings Unclassied Water ! ! ! !! ! ! !!! ! ! ! !! !! ! ! !! River !! !! !! ! ! ! ! Distance to The Plant (m) Distance from The Plant (m) 250 250 ! 500 ! !! 500 ! ! ! 1000 1000 5000 5000 ¯ 0 0,125 0,25 0,5 10000 0 0,05 0,1 0,2 ! ! 10000 Miles !! ¯! Miles ! !
Figure 17: Public Transport (City of Chicago, 2020a; map ! Figure 18: Street Network (City of Chicago, 2020a; map !! !! created by author) created by author) !! ! ! ! !! 43 5. Findings & Discussion platform for many uses with major and minor restrictions and thus investments. While this is beneficial for diverse tenants or uses with the need of open layouts, other types of buildings can provide other benefits. Classic office uses for example are more suited for buildings with a structured room layout, or museums which are more suited for buildings with less windows for a proper presentation of the art.
Overall, the most successful adaptive reuse process from a technical perspective will need to consider again, like from an environmental perspective, the requirements from their vision. This consideration of the right building type is often seen in the literature as a given because either the project is successful or the rising investment costs will end the project early and find a different way into the literature through the economic perspective.
Context
The locational value attached to an existing structure may include proximity to a main thoroughfare, public transit infrastructure, a commercial hub, or situation within a vibrant and expanding residential community; moreover, existing buildings within urban and suburban settings tend to be pre-serviced by existing necessary utilities and ‘hard’ infrastructure. - Faria (2011, p. 14)
The location of the building is normally not changeable, only with major expenditures, still it is an important factor for success which gives this aspect a tension due to the major effects with minor possibilities for change. In modern cities one of the first types of infrastructure to look at is public transportation. The Plant is situated on the edge of one of the big industrial areas which would
Legend
The Plant Green Spaces Buildings Water Distance from The Plant (m) 250 m 500 m 1000 m 5000 m 10000 m ¯ 0 0,05 0,1 0,2 Miles
Figure 19: Green Spaces (City of Chicago, 2020a; map Figure 20: Street View created by author)
44 Context lead to the conclusion that the connectivity is not great, but due to the grid pattern of streets the bus stations are within walking distance (500m). The L-lines (subway system) and the Metra train lines are further away and overall not in walking distance (further than 1km away). (see figure 17) Also, the street pattern also allows an even connectivity throughout the city; this also applies to The Plant. Major streets are only one block away and expressways are accessible within 5km. But the street in which The Plant is located is a dead end (see figure 18) So, from a connectivity standpoint The Plant has arguably decent connectivity with room for improvement in the public transportation sector. The aspect of public transportation is never discussed in the literature in combination with adaptive reuse, but for example social effects, as well as economic effects are very much influenced by the connectivity of the project and the neighborhood. Which in turn influences the adaptive reuse process, thus the literature shows gaps.
The second aspect of the context the building is in is the closeness to historic centers which is rather special in case of The Plant. The Union Stockyards in Chicago are overall a historic area, even though it is still in use today and; therefore, maybe not seen as a historic area. According to figure 21 the gateway to the Union Stockyards in combination with the former Stock Yards National Bank building North-East of The Plant are historic sites. On a bigger scale, it can be observed that historic landmarks are arranged in a ring around the area but not close enough to be connected to The Plant. But, as mentioned before, The Plant takes a special position on this topic because, dependent on the scale, it can be argued that The Plant itself, with the history starting in 1925, is a landmark. This gives the building character and boosts the social connection of people to the building and; so a sense of place (see social effects).
Business Centers are structured along the major streets on the grid pattern as in Chicago. This means that The Plant is only one block away from multiple businesses while The Plant houses different businesses as well. (see figure 13) The Plant is also located in an enterprise zone which means: “The City of Chicago has six Enterprise Zones. The primary purpose of an Enterprise Zone Program is to ‘stimulate economic growth and neighborhood revitalization’ by offering state and local tax incentives to companies expanding or relocating within depressed areas.” (City of Chicago, 2020b, para. 1) Hence, The Plant is a developmental area that sees attention from the city. It is also located on the edge of an Industrial Corridor area. “The goals of the City’s Industrial Corridor Modernization Initiative are to unleash the potential of select industrial areas for advanced manufacturing and technology-oriented jobs while reinforcing traditional industrial activities in other areas; maintain and improve the freight and public transportation systems that serve industrial users; support new job growth and local job opportunities; and leverage the unique, physical features of local industrial corridors to foster demand.” (City of Chicago, 2020c, para. 3) This description would also apply to The Plant, but it is not directly part of this program. The two initiatives by the city help to improve the area. “However, the revitalization of an area depends on more than the master plan by city officials; it ultimately requires the investment of the developers or future building and business owners.” (Tappe, 2017, p. 33) The Plant is arguably one of the projects that can improve an area. Bullen (2007) found in his interviews that 54% of the respondents see the ‘location of buildings in terms of market opportunity’ as a barrier with the overall importance of the factor at 61%. This indicates that the location is important to consider and can bear risks. Overall this paragraph shows the difficulty of improving an area. While most projects are dependent on incentives, because “the only way that a heritage building will present a viable opportunity as an adaptive reuse project will be if incentives are available for developers” (Bullen & Love, 2011a, p. 419), and according to Tappe (2017) developers or future building and business owners are as important for master plans and thus 45 5. Findings & Discussion fundings. The Plant, located on the edge of the area, can provide a boost for the neighborhood but^ it is not a given. The less the perfect location and small business size will shrink the effects for the ^ ^^^^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^^^^ area and thus the location can be seen as very important. ^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^ ^^^ But the way The Plant is thought through, it does not make a big difference to the^ situation^ of the ^^^^^^^ business. The specificity of the businesses within The Plant give them a bigger location specific^ ^^^^^ ^ influence area and at the same time are open for the local community. The ^ restaurant, aswell ^^^^ ^^^^ ^ as the events, draw people to the area but at the same time the farmers markets and other sold ^ goods connect The Plant to other neighborhoods and help their local community by bringing^ people ^ together. The last context^ specific aspect are green spaces and here The Plant, due to the fact^ that ^^ it is located in an old industrial area, has only small green spaces in walking distance^ (see figure 19). But from a street view the streets are green^ with trees alongside them. (see figure 20) Here, the Plant has an impact^ with their green garden as a transition from a local living to an industrial area. ^ ^ One of the more interesting aspects of the location is the fact that the concept for The Plant was first intended for a much larger building. But “we [Bubbly Dynamics LLC.] ended^ up not being ^able ^^ to acquire that building and so that one would have included food and indoor agriculture, but it was^ ^ ^^ not intended to be a food business incubator, more a general incubator.” (Edel, 2019) So, at least ^ ^^ ^^ parts of the concept^ of The Plant are transferable and not directly connected to a location and a building. The reason is the existing technical elements and infrastructures from the food production ^ beforehand.
Overall, the context is influencing The Plant but not in major^ ways due to the structure ofthe ^ ^ businesses. But at the same time The Plant is not massively improving^ the neighborhood due to the ^
^ ^ ^^ ^ ^^^ ^ ^ ^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^ ^^^ ^ ^ ^^^^^ ^ ^ ^^^^ ^ ^ ^^^^ ^ ^^^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^ ^ ^ ^ ^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^ ^^ ^ ^^ ^^ ^ ^ ^^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^ ^ ^ ^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^ ^ ^^^ ^ ^^ ^ ^ ^ ^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^ ^ Legend ^ ^ ^ Landmarks ^ ^ ^ ^ The Plant ^ ^ ^ ^ Buildings ^ Historic Districtst ^ ^ ^ Water ^ ^ ^ Distance from The Plant (m) ^ 250 ^ 500 1000 ^ ^ 5000
10000 0 0,25 0,5 1 ¯ Miles ^ ^ ^ Figure 21: Historic Landmarks^ (City of Chicago, 2020a; map created by author) ^ ^ ^ ^ 46 ^ Legend ^ ^ Landmarks ^ ^ ^ The Plant ^ ^ Buildings ^ Historic Districtst ^ ^ Water ^ Distance from The Plant (m) ^ 250 500 1000 ^ 5000
10000 0 0,25 0,5 1 ¯ Miles ^ ^ Social Effects setback location and this business structure. Infrastructure overall is very important to the process of adaptive reuse (Yung & Chan, 2012) and needed consideration because infrastructure is the connector between the building and the neighborhood.
Social Effects
Heritage buildings are cultural icons and their preservation impacts on community well-being, sense of place and therefore social sustainability. - Bullen and Love (2011a, p. 419)
The neighborhood Back of the Yards/Plant Chicago is a socially diverse area with a visual connection to the Union Stockyards. The Plant, as part of the assemble of industrial buildings in and around the Union Stockyards, has a rich history and thus can be considered as a landmark. This landmark effect improves the sense of place in the area especially with other buildings missing this sense of place due to abandonment. “Most importantly, these industrial resources embody a distinctive place identity that shape the character of former centers of industry, and in so doing, create a source of pride for postindustrial communities.” (Xie, 2015, p. 142) This connects to the local aspect of Sense of Place and the social importance of memories and landmarks (see figure 20). The Plant is one of those buildings, which gives a local Sense of Place. “Not only are buildings a space where everyday life activities occur, they help define the spatial form of cities. They are filled with cultural symbolism, their architecture can tell stories of local history, and they help create a sense of place. Some become icons of the global economy; others embody a city’s identity.” (Boschmann & Gabriel, 2013, p. 222) A newly opened museum about the Union Stockyards and the history promotes this landmark effect even more and gives the building a central position in terms of history and memories.
A problem is that The Plant is not situated in a central location geographically but one block away from a major street. The block between is occupied with an abandoned store and so while it can be argued that the old Peer Foods building improves the social connection for a lot of people, the abandoned store as well as the setback location have a negative effect.
“Some indicators of a successful revitalization include an increased investment in the area from stakeholders, increased diversity and livability of the area, and a preservation of the idea of place evidenced in the advent of heritage tourism.” (Tappe, 2017, p. 37) Tappe (2017) describes the beneficial process adaptive reuse can start and The Plant can have the same effect with new investments in the abandoned areas and thus improvements in the neighborhood and social connections. The far- reaching influence of The Plant and Plant Chicago partly overcomes this by utilizing the bar and restaurant, the tours, and other events like the farmers markets to create a social connection. But the neighborhood does not orient itself towards the building and The Plant. With the location at the end of a street it is also not directly along pedestrians walking routes and thus the benefits of the cultural attachment are lessened. Overall the positive effects according to the literature are assuming a good location of the building to improve the overall sense of place, but the setback location at a dead end, with an abandoned building right in front are not helping the creation of a better sense of place and the adaptive reuse literature is never considering that.
Cultural significance is the collection of public actions and heritage to create or increase the culture (Ahmad, 2006). This is important for connection of the local community through the concept of sense of place (Jin et al., 2012). It can be argued that the long history and the public actions that The Plant 47 5. Findings & Discussion takes are important for the local community. This can also be seen in the economic importance with the creation of jobs. Overall, even though The Plant is not located directly in a central area, it has an impact on the social network, especially compared to the alternative of an abandoned building, which can be observed right across the street. Especially the preserved history of the building and the attached social connections are a benefit of adaptive reuse. A good social work, intended or not, will be overall beneficial for the success of the project, but the location can be argued is a hindrance in that beneficial process.
Regulation and Policy Effects
City authorities and regulators form one of the core decision-making agents involved in building adaptation and are able to influence the amount and scope of adaptation through the use of tools such as incentives, legislation, penalties and so forth. - Wilkinson et al. (2009, p. 52)
From a regulation and policy perspective The Plant is situated in focus areas for economic development as mentioned above but the most important planning aspect is zoning and permits (see figure 22). John Edel mentioned in the interview (Edel, Founder) that the search for a building was very much influenced by the former use of the building, food production. The reason is that buildings that had a food-production use before, have certain zoning and permit advantages. Zoning is hard to change, and permits are expensive to receive and with the right use beforehand, the development of the project gets a head start. This is very much connected to the positive effects of the right former use from a technical perspective with reinforced ceilings, etc. Health, safety and accessibility requirements were mostly covered with those already installed measures and existing permits. The
Figure 22: Zoning (City of Chicago, 2020b)
48 Regulation and Policy Effects reason for this prerequisite of the right zoning and permit structure is connected to the anchor tenant in the building, the brewery. It was clear from the start that the brewery will play an integral role in the development due to the symbiosis with other systems. (Vierk, Employee) So one can assume that the stakeholder views play an important role in the process of adaptive reuse and this is also backed up by the literature. But John Edel (Founder) clearly stated that in his mind there were no stakeholders at all. Different stakeholder views can be met with the right building, if necessary for success. In case of The Plant this is hard to prove because there was a plan in place before the search for a fitting building even began which changed during the process from a more open idea of a business structure to a purely food-related business structure (Vierk, Employee). 33 percent of the respondents of Bullen (2007) answer that they consider stakeholder views to be a factor in the process. The Plant shows that there are no active stakeholders needed during the adaptation process. Which is against what Wilkinson and colleagues (2009), Robiglio (2017) or Mısırlısoy and Günçe (2016) mention in their work.
To improve the accessibility of the adaptive reuse process even research suggests to “apply Chicago Building Code in a more flexible manner for older buildings” (Mattson-Teig, 2019, para. 10). All in all, Chicago has multiple strategy papers The Plant can be part of due to adaptive reuse or the projects inside.
These are:
• Chicago Climate Action Plan (City of Chicago, n.d.-a) This strategy focuses on Chicago’s future in terms of climate actions and for example emission reduction. Multiple strategies can be connected to The Plant. First the retrofitting of industrial buildings to be more energy efficient. The installed bio-digester would fit into the scope of the second strategy, clean and renewable energy sources, especially with the massive costs connected to the digester. Strategy five focuses on adaptation which is the underlying idea of adaptive reuse and overall the Chicago Climate Action Plan targets the benefits of adaptive reuse; therefore The Plant is a positive example, even though it is not directly connected (not mentioned) to the strategy.
• Chicago Sustainable Development Policy Handbook The Chicago Sustainable Development Policy Handbook targets similar areas than the Chicago Climate Action Plan, for example in this case it is called onsite renewable energy which is similar to clean and renewable energy sources. Furthermore, it targets building certificates which focus on energy and resource consumption and promote adaptive reuse.
• Sustain Chicago “Sustain Chicago is a resource for connecting citizens and visitors with the tools to understand and address climate change. It was created in 2018 by the Mayor’s Office of the City of Chicago through a series of community meetings, collaborative workshops, and neighborhood surveys. Through that work, we have compiled a robust source of practical knowledge, insights, practices, and projects that can help each one of us live more responsibly.” (City of Chicago, n.d.-b, para. 1) The Plant is a specific example in this strategy in the section of ‘waste and recycling’. But this strategy is also focusing on retrofitting buildings and consequently forms another important source of information for adaptive reuse.
49 5. Findings & Discussion
• Small Business Improvement Fund The Plant “received incentives through the City’s Small Business Improvement Fund, which is basically a matching program for specific building improvements.” (Kokola, Employee) It focuses on commercial and industrial properties and their improvement. The districts are structured, and only certain districts have access to the fund.
All of those strategies are initiated by the City of Chicago and acknowledge the importance of adaptive reuse by trying to utilize the benefits of it one way or the other. They can improve the chances of success for adaptive reuse (Wilkinson et al., 2009). “Municipalities can be very helpful in providing financial and other encouragement for heritage development. Incentives can act as a kind of loss-leader by encouraging development that has been shown to more than recoup its value for the local government through increased property values and corresponding tax revenues.” (Shipley et al., 2006, p. 512) Shipley and colleagues (2006) point out the importance of cities and incentives as a driver for heritage preservation and introduction of innovation to an area. Interestingly, the costs of the bio-digester were considered too low to “make sense for some of the main financial incentives out there (particularly New Markets Tax Credits).” (Kokola, Employee) Thus even though the literature points out the importance of incentives and the City of Chicago provides city-wide incentives there are areas that are not covered and pushed for even though it would be useful like the bio-digester, which is too cheap.
Synergies and Conflicts
P. A. Bullen and P. E. Love (2009) sum it up, by pointing out that “urban regeneration requires a vision and a continued commitment to sustainability” (p. 357) which is what The Plant represents. A vision for a closed loop system was there from the beginning and adapted to the characteristics and availabilities of the building and this closed loop system with the decreased emissions and the overall engagement with the neighborhood are a step in a more sustainable direction. But this framework is focused on a more holistic view and thus it is important to conclude with the synergies and conflicts between the themes. For example, the missed funding from a regulation and policy point of view have negative impacts on environmental, social and economic factors. If funded properly the anaerobic digester would probably not have been the only big investment into environmental performance. Another conflict can be created through a synergy, because if environmental and technical visions are synergetic this can drive the costs from an economic point of view. The Plant also shows that a vision can be flexible and adapted to a building and location but the location aspects on the other hand are fixed and need consideration during the adaptive reuse process to be beneficial. Another example is the technical soundness and the social attachment, because if the building is sound it can keep characteristics that have attached memories. Overall, these synergies and conflicts show that a holistic framework like the one presented here is needed to completely grasp the process of adaptive reuse.
50 Synergies and Conflicts
Figure 23:The Plant frontal view
51 6. Conclusions
Overall Learnings
The aim of this study has been to explore the interplay of adaptive reuse in case of The Plant with the six themes identified. Goal was to gain a deeper understanding of the process of adaptive reuse on that project, analyze the surrounding and the process and apply the learnings somewhere else. This last point will be the focus of the later part of this chapter. Overall, literature, site visits, interviews and GIS-data analysis provided holistic results that show how adaptive reuse needs a case by case analysis and that The Plant is an average as well as a very specific example and that the six themes are the six important areas to focus on during a process like this to gain a deeper understand of each individual adaptive reuse process.
While, in this case, the process of adaptive reuse is a rather typical with many learnings for future projects, the finished project is very specific with a very sustainable approach. A different building than expected was the turning point in this process. Due to a new building (the Peer Foods building) with a food related former use a changed and specified vision was necessary to use the built structure as efficient as possible. While the first vision was open for all businesses the structural layout, floor drainage system, antiseptic surfaces, etc. provided a perfect space for food focused businesses. This utilization of the given features of the building have the benefit of less adaption overall and thus a more efficient adaptive reuse process. “Basically, it is more about figuring out the what strengths a particular building has and then working within those strengths.” (Edel, Founder) The finished project shows that all six themes identified from the literature, economic, environmental, technical, location, social and planning, play important roles and relate to the adaptive reuse process researched here.
Economic influences focus in the first place on expenses and the attached risk. Due tothelow investments buying the building and clever use of left behind things there was room for improvements elsewhere, like the bio digester. The market demands are another important influence which is related to the project itself as well as the neighborhood and thus is a powerful aspect that needs consideration even though it cannot be changed directly. In consequence the economic influences are a well-researched topic in the field of adaptive reuse and The Plant shows that clever planning 52 Overall Learnings can decrease otherwise considerable risks. Environmental aspects are another well-researched topic due to the beneficial savings in embodied energy and emissions. Outstanding in case of The Plant is the use of the remains from the old meatpacking times, which would otherwise be considered as scrap and thrown away and thus produce emissions. While adaptive reuse saves valuable emissions and embodied energy the determining factor to save even more is a vision. Technical requirements like the ability to adapt are important considerations during an adaptive reuse process but still some of those factors are often misinterpreted. While the presence of hazardous materials for example is seen as a major barrier in adaptive reuse, basically the same applies to building new and thus this barrier is eminent no matter what. From a technical point of view again the most important aspect is a vision how to use the building and The Plant clearly shows that a thought through vision improves the chances of a effective and efficient adaptive reuse process. Contextual advantages and disadvantages of this case are clear but, like for most other projects, often not changeable. The setback location behind an abandoned store does not improve the connectivity to the rest of the area as well as the appearance of the area. But the concept of sense of place is very important and here, due to the attached history, The Plant plays an important role and adaptive reuse saves that. While the location of the built structure cannot be changed the concept can, as The Plant shows. And overall the location is an important factor that is often missed because of the fixed setting. Social aspects are again connected to a sense of place and how people perceive the building and the surrounding area. Especially due to the rich history of the area the old Peer Foods building can be considered a landmark and thus promotes a sense of place in the area. The local community has a place to meet and activities in The Plant which promotes the local community through the bar and restaurant, tours and local farmers markets (which were partly provided by Plant Chicago). The planning process shows that especially incentives are an important aspect of promoting adaptive reuse. In case of The Plant the received incentives were used to save energy through new windows. But this case also shows that cities have to be careful and target the incentives right so that even the bio digester in case of The Plant will be covered.
In conclusion the effectiveness of adaptive reuse is very much dependent on a holistic thought through and flexible vision according to the case of The Plant. The literature, site visits, interviews and GIS-data analysis showed that the proposed framework for adaptive reuse has many benefits and pointed-out risks. Adaptive reuse can preserve the existing landmark characteristics while updating the other parts to create a modern, efficient and effective landmark if approached holistically.
To get the most out of the learnings it is important to see them from the different stakeholder perspectives. From a developer perspective the learnings are a concentration on an applicable vision, the focus on the right building with a technical possibility to adapt and the utilization of given features. Policymakers have, besides the standard tools of policies and regulations, funding as the main promotional tool for adaptive reuse. The specific funding for certain characteristics can improve the environmental footprint of the adaptive reuse process and the building but also promote social and economic aspects. Neighbors and citizens overall need to make sure to be heard if a building with attached memories and social connections needs to be maintained to create a social viable public space. This in turn will promote adaptive reuse and provide an urban setting with different buildings from multiple times and with multiple characteristics.
53 6. Conclusions
Suggestions for Implementation
While The Plant is already finished it is also important to consider how to implement those learnings into a new projects. The Tabakfabrik Linz in Austria (see figure 23) is a reuse tobacco manufacturing site which developed over time the different buildings into a modern space for different uses. One building (see Appendix C) that is currently under renovation is the Magazin building and this section will focus on how some learnings from Chicago can be applied in Linz to show this part as well and give a hands-on guide.
The first thing every project can learn from The Plant is the importance of symbiosis between the businesses housed in the building or around. This symbiosis enables the project to evolve in an even more emission and energy saving, socially interesting, economically save and technically sound project. Especially with one of the four principles of the Tabakfabrik being sustainability, this connectedness between tenants enables the whole project to be more sustainable through utilizing waste of other businesses, or knowledge and creativity spill overs. This, in turn, will help a sustainable urban development on a bigger scale due to the spill overs in the neighborhood.
Another aspect which is important is a flexible layout that provides space for different users to connect different types of businesses within one space. This ties back to the symbiosis because this possibility to connect different types of businesses enables interaction between companies that would otherwise not have the possibilities to meet; therefore, a symbiosis can be created. Important to mention is the challenge to turn a single-tenant structure into a multi-tenant one according to one of the interviews.
Windows can play an important role in the effectiveness of the adaptive reuse process and if an adaptive reuse process is considered or not. The sun as well as the heat can be counterproductive for the processes within the Magazin building and thus a consideration of which tenant can use the sun, and which not can save valuable expenses. But on the other hand, from a social perspective there is less visibility and hence less connection to the area around.
The incorporation of innovation, especially focusing on environmental innovation, is an important learning from The Plant. The installment of an anaerobic digester is a very specific action but overall focusing on emission-reducing innovation like smart metering improves the environmental footprint and drives innovation.
Important to mention is also the incorporation of different stakeholders in the process, even though this was not part of the explicit process in Chicago. What was part of the process was the connection to the local neighborhood and the Tabakfabrik does that already very well and here The Plant can learn something from the Tabakfabrik.
54 Suggestions for Implementation
Figure 24: Tabakfabrik Linz
55 6. Conclusions
Suggested Further Research
This incorporation of stakeholders leads directly to the most obvious further research needed, more extensive test of the developed framework. More case studies are necessary to get a better feeling for the framework and how it covers the individual case by case characteristics of each adaptive reuse project. This means first of all a focus on other cities in the US as well as in other countries and cultures (e.g. Tabakfabrik, Linz). It also means a focus on other types of buildings, not just industrial, to test further and expand the framework. Coming back to the incorporation of stakeholders it is important to expand the number of respondents to gather more perspectives and identify synergies and conflicts between stakeholders to further improve the process. This focus on synergies and conflicts leads to the next needed research the solely focus on those synergies and conflicts to identify as many as possible and provide further knowledge to utilize these learnings for future projects.
Sustainable urban development focuses on current quality of life and restricting future effects and due to its reuse character adaptive reuse can contribute to this development approach. The definition of adaptive reuse – the process of reusing underutilized or obsolete buildings for a new use by using at least parts of the existing built structure – clearly shows the potential for sustainable development but a holistic framework is needed. The developed framework from recent research literature attempted this by identifying six themes - economic, environmental, technical, context, social, and regulations and policy. The then researched factors within these six themes on the case of The Plant showed the important considerations during an adaptive reuse process with the main aim of testing the framework to its applicability. This was further researched by identifying synergies and conflicts between those six themes. The knowledge of effects of the six identified themes and thus the framework in combination with the gained knowledge of synergies and conflicts can positively contribute to sustainable urban development.
56 Suggested Further Research
Figure 25: Adapted Structure
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63 Appendix A
64 Interview questions:
Semi-structured interview
What are the main points I want to cover: ● Factors that influence the adaptive reuse process ● The differences between the general adaptive reuse process and the specific process for industrial buildings and new economies ● What are the benefits and risks of this approach (for the developers, operators, planners, etc. in Chicago)
The questions: 1. Introduction of myself and the main idea of my master thesis a. My viewpoint is the approach … b. My definition of adaptive reuse c. Stakeholder mapping 2. General factors: a. What do you think are the most important factors? b. Are there some factors that are more important than others? c. Are there important factors missing? (provided list) d. Do you have a specific example in mind where a specific factor was important? 3. The building: a. Why are industrial buildings a good starting point for the process? b. What issues should be included in the decision process used to assess the suitability of a building for adaptation? c. Have you calculated the different options (destruction and newly-built or adaptive reuse) 4. Barriers: a. What are the specific barriers you think are hindering the reuse process? 5. Benefits: a. What are the benefits you can think of? b. How much do you think sustainability is taken into account during the planning phase? 6. The industrial buildings and new economies: a. What do you think are the most important factors? b. Are there some factors that are more important than others? c. Are there important factors missing? d. Do you have a specific example in mind where this factor was important?
65 TRITA -ABE-MBT-20748
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