adaptive reuse

Adaptive Reuse Project Auto Body Shop Transformed into Live-Work Gem in Sunny Boca Raton

By: Julie Lundin, LEED AP ID+C, IIDA

So, what does adaptive reuse mean in real life?

Adaptive reuse is when you go to an art gallery… in a former church, when you attend a community event… in an old barn, when you book a Costa Rican vacation and your hotel is made out of shipping containers!  With the COVID-19 pandemic, the concept of repurposing the built environment has become even more important. Vacant office space becomes a healthcare facility.  Hotels turn into healthcare worker housing. A shopping mall is suddenly a medical center.

As an interior designer, I have always been intrigued by adaptive reuse projects.  Projects where a design team has expertly executed a vision for a forgotten run-down building or interior space and brought it back to life. They hold a special place in my heart. When the opportunity arose to purchase, design, and renovate an abandoned auto garage in Boca Raton to use as a live/work space, it was a dream come true.  As an adaptive reuse project, the most important initial points of consideration begin with safety, accessibility, and compatibility. These basic points are relevant no matter what is being considered, from energy to building materials to assessing current building code requirements.

Keeping the form or structure of a building intact while changing its function is challenging. However, it can provide significant environmental and economic benefits. Adaptive reuse projects have utilized sustainable design concepts long before LEED and green building became popular.  Adaptive reuse is one of the most maximized uses of recycling.  The value of reuse, recycle and repurpose is intrinsic to these projects. 

Benefits of Adaptive Reuse

  • Adaptive reuse is sustainable
    • Greenest building is one that already exists
    • Reduction in building materials needed to transform a space
  • Environmental Stability
    • Reduces energy consumption associated with demolishing a structure
    • And building a new one to replace it
  • Economic Stability
    • Potential cost benefits associated with greenfield development
      • Legal issues
      • Zoning problems
      • Finance
      • Design and Construction Costs
      • Environmental Impacts
  • Spaces may be useful for fledgling businesses
    • 16% less costly than other forms of construction
    • Results in lower leasing rate
  • Faster than new construction
    • Renovated existing building ready for occupancy sooner
  • Preservation of local identity
    • Older buildings add and establish the character of local built environments
    • Preserves a local sense of place and authentic experience
  • Utilization of a previously developed site
    • Avoids development of greenfields
    • Utilizes existing utility infrastructure
    • Minimizes impact on watersheds and stormwater systems
  • Reusing existing building elements
    • Cost savings
    • Embodied energy savings
    • Construction waste savings
    • Time savings
  • Utilize the character of existing spaces and materials

Below is my adaptive reuse project story.  I hope you enjoy it!

Auto Body Shop Transformed into Live-Work Gem in Sunny Boca Raton

AFTER (Continue reading for Before…)

Boca Raton, Florida is well known for its affluent gated golf communities, manicured landscapes, and pristine beaches. Unlike cities such as Pittsburgh and Cincinnati where industrial is synonymous with the name, Boca’s industrial area is inconspicuous.  That is why the unexpected location of this industrial section is the perfect setting for a hidden gem, a distinctive live-work studio. What was once a run-down auto body shop with ground contamination was transformed into an office, studio, and residence. With a commitment and passion for design, the built environment, and sustainability, this industrial property has been repurposed into a warm, inviting, and environmentally friendly enclave.

Auto garage office BEFORE

The base footprint of the building is 1,950 square feet. The front of the building houses the residential space which includes a kitchen, bathroom, open living space and a cozy loft which provides an additional 240 square feet. This portion of the building was designed to be self-contained with a separate entrance and electric meter should future usage needs change. A peek inside the space shows a metal spiral staircase leading to the loft. The spiral stairs were kept intact from the original body shop but painted a soft metallic gold as a nod to the design firm’s name Golden Spiral Design.

AFTER

The small footprint of 1,950 square feet required creative design solutions to maximize the multi –

functionality of the space. The live work concept had to become truly integrated based on the building size.  The residential component made sense to be in the front portion of the building which allows a separate entrance.  The main auto garage became the office/studio but is designed as a flex space to accommodate large meetings or entertaining on the weekends. To delineate areas of the open space, furniture placement, lighting and plants were utilized.

Auto garage BEFORE

The back portion of the building was originally an auto painting stall and allows for privacy once the large, colorful barn door is closed.  High gloss cabinetry was added for much needed storage and includes a murphy bed. This space also contains an added ADA bathroom, free standing glass shower, and washer and dryer.

 The walls are painted a crisp white which showcase the concrete block walls, their inherent imperfection, and years of use.  A modified exposed interior was created with galvanized metal soffits that hide electrical and air conditioning components.  The three original overhead garage doors are still intact and used as metal shades for privacy and sun control.  The garage concrete floors were polished and sealed still showing the shapes, imperfections, and natural patina of the building. Old Chicago brick was added to both the interior and exterior walls to emulate the character of old industrial buildings. 

AFTER

The grounds were designed to visually create an inviting enclave.  Sustainable fencing was installed which offers privacy and security. The front apex, once an eyesore, is a green oasis with bronze trellises, jasmine vines, orchids, and a custom mosaic.  Sustainable, resilient and energy efficient principles were applied throughout the design and specifications of this building.

Building BEFORE

Below are key sustainable concepts that were utilized for this project.

  • Site Remediation
  • Construction Waste Recycling
  • Adaptive Reuse of Undesirable Property
  • Highly Reflective Roof and added Insulation
  • No additional Building Footprint added
  • Solar Panels and Battery Storage
  • Energy Efficient HVAC
  • Energy Efficient Windows
  • Energy Efficient LED Lighting
  • Low Flow Plumbing Fixtures
  • Energy Efficient Appliances
  • Recycling and Composting
  • Low VOC Paint and Finishes
  • Daylighting
  • Interior Plantscapes
  • Exterior Drip Irrigation System

Converting this building to a multi-use habitable space was both challenging and rewarding.  It was important to design the space using the existing building footprint (bigger is not better), to remediate the undesirable brownfield, to take advantage of the industrial character, and to promote sustainability throughout the entire design process. 

With the arrival of the COVID pandemic it has never been more important to have a healthy and safe place to work.  For questions about the adaptive reuse of this building – or the potential of a building you own – please contact me, Julie Lundin, at (561) 866-4741 or [email protected].

Renovation, Restoration, and Adaptive Reuse: The Understated Value of Existing Buildings

It’s not enough to design super-efficient new buildings. To reach zero-net carbon, architects have to improve performance in existing buildings, and make the most of the embodied carbon we’ve already spent on them.

By KATIE GERFEN
View the original article here

Given that we’re on target to double the current square footage of building stock globally by 2060, it would be criminal to ignore existing building inventory as an opportunity for reuse. Quinn Evans principal emeritus and 2018 AIA president Carl Elefante, FAIA, and senior associate Richard JP Renaud, AIA, explain why renovation and adaptive reuse—staples for their firm—are critical to achieving the necessary carbon benchmarks.

You have said that “the greenest building is the one that is already built.” Why are the renovation and adaptive reuse of existing buildings so important to achieving zero net?
Carl Elefante, FAIA: We have a carbon burden that already exists in the built environment. As designers, we’re thinking about the future, we’re thinking about new buildings. The challenge is to not increase the current carbon burden, which means new buildings have to be much, much more energy-efficient, contributing much less carbon, ultimately contributing zero. But that does nothing to reduce the existing carbon burden. We’re not going to get to zero without drawing down from where we are today. To do that, we have to address the performance of existing buildings.

How should architects and developers approach the existing building stock that they should be considering for renovation?
Elefante: “The mountains and the carpet” is Ed Mazria’s description—the “mountain” of modern, tall, dense buildings surrounded by a “carpet” of midcentury and earlier low-density buildings—and it describes an important duality that exists when you start to look at the carbon needs. The types of policies and programs needed to address getting to zero carbon with the large downtown buildings is very different from the challenge of the dispersed buildings in the carpet.

What are some of the challenges?
Elefante: The concentration of dense, large buildings downtown has a relative handful of owners. To get at their carbon footprint, you’re dealing with a few stakeholders. The projects are large enough to potentially fund all of the analytical work of energy modeling and life cycle assessment that needs to be done to reach performance goals. In the carpet, you have many thousands more owners, down to the ones with a single property. The scale is so small that it’s very hard to say to an individual homeowner, “Spend money doing modeling, life cycle assessments, and optimizing alternative design scenarios.” It tends to require a more prescriptive approach: “Here are things that you can do to adapt your residence or small-scale commercial building: Insulate your roof and walls, upgrade your mechanical systems to all electric, etc.”

In large-scale renovation or reuse projects, where are the opportunities with embodied carbon?
Richard Renaud, AIA: With the mountain buildings, the envelope is a good target. Many of the curtain walls in early modern buildings had very little concern for thermal performance—keeping the view and light was their primary objective. Operationally, how can we improve the curtain wall? And when is it too far gone to be able to be improved? This all comes back to improving performance and minimizing the future use of carbon. The curtain wall was made out of aluminum and glass, two materials that use a lot of carbon to make them. What can we do to save that carbon? Not replacing it becomes very important. The Professional Plaza Building [shown above, in Detroit, which Quinn Evans renovated] was a nice midcentury building that actually had a thermally insulated curtain wall. The owner came to us and said: “From a monetary basis, I want to retain this curtain wall. What can we do to improve its performance?” In his eyes, it’s money; in our eyes, it’s carbon. The owner wanted to save money, he wanted to make the building more efficient. He wanted to reuse as many materials as possible in its redevelopment, which inherently is what we intend to do, too.

Are there ways for architects to get owners thinking more about carbon?
Renaud: The mountain is actually a lot easier, because the owners are going to come to architects. The problem, as Carl said, is with the “carpet.” You have thousands of owners, and most are not going to hire an architect.

Do we write off the carpet too quickly as not worth saving?
Renaud: Yes. If you come in [to a carpet building] and you have four walls and a roof, even in poor condition, if you can save anything, it’s a plus. We’ve got to stop looking at it only as saving money, and start saying: “How much carbon do we have here, and how is reuse going to save it?”

Elefante: We can’t do this without systemic change. I constantly find myself reminded of the founding of AIA 160 years ago. What was happening then was the adoption of what we now call Building and Life Safety Codes. What we’re faced with today is really similar. Back then, the systemic change was recognizing that it was more important to have all buildings fireproof so that we didn’t have a disaster every time somebody dropped a candle. We need systemic change here as well, and the basis for the change is there. City after city is beginning to develop plans for carbon reduction. There is no way to get to the reductions that are needed without addressing carbon in the building stock—both operational and embodied carbon. Even if you find no value in an existing building other than to keep its basic structure, that saves so much embodied carbon. How do we really start to think about our buildings as carbon sinks, as ways to sequester carbon?

Is sequestering the carbon that is already in the built environment critical to achieving zero?
Elefante: Yes. We just can’t throw these buildings out. We’ve got to work with the buildings that we have and continue to make them valuable. If we’re looking for quick reductions in carbon, the place that we have to look first is embodied carbon. If you start with scenarios like renovating existing buildings, then you are instantly saving carbon. This market change is happening very quickly. From my own perspective of being an official old guy and having been around for the rise of sustainability and green building, there’s an awful lot of people around that say, “Architects really missed the boat on the green building switch, so others took it on.” This is going to happen even more quickly, and it’s imperative that architects wake up and make this transition from being carbon polluters to being carbon sequester-ers. It will be either the saving or the demise of our profession.