Page 188 - Beyond Decommissioning

Experience and lessons learned 169

Care should be taken in the design to ensure that adequate provision is made to meet present
l
and future needs for storage, garaging, and the like within existing building as far as prac-
ticable. The erection of new outbuildings where the intention is to demolish sound existing
structures that could serve the same goal is unlikely to receive support.
Critical additions unlikely to receive support or at least needing specific negotiations
l
include: unsuitable new openings, roof-lights, chimneys, or pipework; the erection of addi-
tional buildings (garages, sheds, etc.); the over-prominent siting of alarm boxes and satellite
dishes, etc.
l Care should be taken to ensure that historic materials and detailing are not damaged or lost
during reuse works. A methodology demonstrating that the works will be carried out prop-
erly may be required.
l Large, multi-storied industrial buildings dating from mid-18th century onwards tend to be of
“fireproof” construction. This can mean that headroom to each floor is limited and any inter-
nal alterations, including the routing of services, become major structural engineering
problems.
l Where existing windows would rise through proposed inserted floor levels the floor at these
points should be set back and a light-well formed. Details relating to internal lighting
arrangements and colors to trimmers, etc. should be so designed as to have the minimum
visual impact on the exterior. Where existing windows have a defined horizontal division
(traverse) the inserted floor should be ideally aligned with this.
l Any new floors or partitions should be kept to a minimum. They should also be located so as
to retain a substantial part of the original arrangements. The building’s original purpose,
form, and development should not be hidden by new work.
A study conducted in Lithuania reviews typical options for disused industrial build-
ings: preservation of industry; establishment of industrial and technical museums; or
conversion of industrial buildings into residential buildings. Based on a question-
naire, private citizens expressed their views about factors they felt important to
buy industrial properties converted to homes (Dauks ˇys et al., 2012). As shown by
numerous examples given in this book, the trend toward reusing industrial buildings
for private housing is global: after Lithuania, one could quote New Zealand here.
The new Botanica Heritage building is a 14-apartment development from a
1900s-industrial building in Mt Eden. A prominent Auckland building conversion
is the former Baycorp building, which was redeveloped into apartments in 2013.
Factors cited for this trend in New Zealand include the lower costs of converted
buildings in comparison to new construction and the “character” (i.e. charm) of
ex-industrial structures (Stuff, 2016).

6.2.2.1 Mills, sheds, other factories
Injecting new uses into a historic context can be hard. The low ceilings of many mills
and factories, built in the late 1800s, render them unsuitable for industrial and other
current uses. Moreover, the placement of pillars every 2 to 3 m is a design challenge.
Concrete slab floors can be difficult to adapt. Old wiring and plumbing will normally
have to be removed. The roof and windows can often by repaired rather than
replaced. The addition of extra stories to the external side can be problematic if
the project is subject to design review. Solutions include building an addition that