Adaptive Reuse: Thinking in layers
Adaptive Reuse, simply put means working with an existing building to adapt it to a new use. Climate change is making this approach to developing new spaces for new uses particularly relevant today where demolition is now seen as a last resort.
Diagram based on Brand’s ‘Shearing Layers’
Buildings have always been adapted, extended and changed over time and this is nowhere better examined than in Stewart Brand’s 1994 seminal book ‘How Buildings Learn’*. In the book he proposes a simple diagram to describe how all buildings are constructed using 6 layers -site, structure, skin, services, space plan and stuff. These ‘shearing layers’ need adapting at different rates over time and at different stages in a buildings life. Thinking regeneratively, we would add two additional layers to Brand’s diagram - Land and Community. Land being the foundation on which we build communities and communities being the reason that we need to build in the first place.
*Brand, S. (1994) How Buildings Learn:What happens after they’re built. Phoenix Illustrated
Diagram based on Brand’s ‘Shearing Layers’ with the addition of regenerative layers
The term ‘site’, assumes that the land on which a building sits, has one purpose -to provide a site for the building. A regenerative approach to design starts with the assumption that the ‘land’ itself has intrinsic value. In thinking of a building founded on land -geology, archeology and ecology- we are more likely to take into consideration the climate, biodiversity, historical use and the cultural significance of a place.
The term ‘community' provides the reason we build in the first place and how a place can continue to be used in a way that reduces our impact on the environment, both at a building and global scale. As Brand suggests ‘building' is a verb not a noun, we are continually building communities and these are supported through the buildings we make.
Diagram of approach to thinking in layers
A balanced approach between land and community will define the new use of an existing building. Adapting the building for reuse, by thinking in layers will allow for future adaptability and flexibility in the space. And, if we build from the perspective of regenerating the land to benefit the wider ecological, historical, cultural, social and economic value then we are building strong communities for the future.
If you have an existing building that you would like to adapt to a new use, talk to us about how thinking in layers will help build your community or future-proof your home.
