Adaptive reuse and potential housing supply solutions

Central to Australia’s identity – and the Great Australian dream – is its layered built environment, which is a combination of modern and heritage buildings. Yet considering Australia’s current housing supply crisis, there have been calls for a different conversation around building new homes, heritage preservation and reuse.

Australia’s housing supply crisis is a perfect storm of high demand and low affordability, with movements like Yes In My Backyard (YIMBY) demanding regulatory reforms to dismantle barriers to higher-density developments. Though, many are questioning long-held philosophies to build more, instead asking whether there is a possible relationship between housing and untapped excess capacity within heritage sites. Adapting heritage buildings into multi-residential housing to preserve and repurpose existing sites is seen by many as an obvious solution. However, such solutions are layered and multifaceted, with flow-on effects on the economy, housing policies and shifting values.

“There are so many excellent examples of adaptive reuse of heritage buildings in the hospitality, hotel, cultural and commercial sectors that resonate with people, which suggests that there would be a strong market for multi-residential development in heritage buildings,” says Maggie Lum, associate at Smart Design Studio.

Does the current heritage system protect from overdevelopment or does it lock people out of the areas they’d like to live in? “There are so many excellent examples of adaptive reuse of heritage buildings in the hospitality, hotel, cultural and commercial sectors that resonate with people, which suggests that there would be a strong market for multi-residential development in heritage buildings,” says Maggie Lum, associate at Smart Design Studio.

This approach does come with certain caveats. Beyond concerns of overdevelopment, the technical challenge of adapting old structures to meet current housing requirements for comfort and environmental performance should also be considered. “Many older buildings generally did not consider passive environmental design principles, nor did they embrace outdoor living as we do today,” says Lum. “Over time, many of these buildings have been altered and added to without sympathy, rendering them to a state that would be considered ‘detracting’ from the built environment.” Similarly, integrating new building services and infrastructure can be challenging, as is the approvals process with authorities and educating the community, who hold heritage buildings to great social and cultural value.

“Just because an older building is considered no longer ‘fit for purpose’ or has been altered beyond redemption does not justify demolition or tabula rasa,” says Lum.

As Australia supports a denser population in our ever-expanding cities, the focus needs to be on how to overcome these challenges. Foremost, there is merit in sensitively adapting a heritage building, as it may give it new relevance and use, which helps preserve it. “Just because an older building is considered no longer ‘fit for purpose’ or has been altered beyond redemption does not justify demolition or tabula rasa,” says Lum.

When executed well, the adaptive reuse of heritage buildings re-establishes their value. Kerr Street by Kerstin Thompson Architects highlights how multi-residential housing can be added to the heritage fabric without undermining the quality of the public realm, the legibility of the existing building or impact amenities. “We were able to pursue a zero-setback model, where a new building is added above the existing heritage building and built right to the boundary,” says Tobias Pond, principal at Kerstin Thompson Architects. “This also allowed for the creation of a generous internal courtyard that benefited the new dwellings we designed around it.

“Two of the biggest challenges facing our society at the moment are the climate emergency and chronic housing shortage,” says Pond.

Also central to adaptive reuse is saving on embodied carbon; heritage buildings have already paid their carbon debt, so reusing a structure can extend its life cycle. “Two of the biggest challenges facing our society at the moment are the climate emergency and chronic housing shortage,” says Pond. “Given that we are trying to design solutions for both a housing and a climate crisis, adaptive reuse of existing buildings is key to solving both simultaneously,” adds Jeremy McLeod, design director at Breathe. Pond agrees: “Given the construction industry represents around 37 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, choosing to reuse existing building fabric represents an essential pathway to meeting emissions reduction targets.”

Another notable advantage is the renovate-to-rent model, which has a swifter delivery to the rental market. For instance, Park Street by Breathe reimagined an underutilised mid-century apartment block, transformed in just four months, providing housing as early as possible. “It not only honours its heritage but, at the same time, diverts tonnes of construction waste from landfill and supports a circular economy,” says McLeod.

“We have to decide, as a profession, who we want to be – are we happy to sit back and wait for the phone to ring, asking us to design another beautiful house for another wealthy Australian?” notes McLeod.

As well as cost and energy efficiency, updating heritage buildings has significant cultural and social value and allows for diversity in Australia’s housing. This means it can help create stronger and healthier communities and contribute to cities’ resilience in the future. Smart Design Studio’s Hall 20 is a boutique apartment and retail building that respectfully reimagines the original building fabric of the Bondi Post Office from the 1920s. “There isn’t that much stock of large heritage buildings that can be simply converted into multi-residential without incorporating additional building to it,” says Lum. Three storeys of residential apartments are built on top of a corner retail tenancy, providing opportunities for community engagement, while new fenestrations from the existing Post Office building’s existing windows and corner entrance retain its heritage appeal.

While architects do not control political and economic variables that affect housing supply, their voices are vital components of the conversation. “We have to decide, as a profession, who we want to be – are we happy to sit back and wait for the phone to ring, asking us to design another beautiful house for another wealthy Australian?” notes McLeod. “Great design should be accessible to all, and architects have a duty to demonstrate that it can be achieved on reasonable budgets,” adds Lum. Pond perhaps summarises it best: “I think we, individually and collectively, need to communicate why we ought to do more with less, and how to do it.”

Pond perhaps summarises it best: “I think we, individually and collectively, need to communicate why we ought to do more with less, and how to do it.”

There is an urgent need for better and smarter ways to build housing in Australia. The adaptive reuse of existing buildings to provide more multi-residential housing has been analysed as cost-efficient, sustainable and socially beneficial. When evaluating the built fabric of Australia’s past and future in equal measure, architecture can lead the way to a new era of smarter, fairer housing. And so, perhaps we can preserve history, pave a sustainable future and build a stronger national identity, all without locking people out.