These Are The World’s 11 Most Beautiful Repurposed Buildings
These innovative structures honour their past lives while serving new needs
Repurposed buildings might just be the solution modern architects are looking for as they face more pressure than their predecessors to prioritise sustainable design. But even with respect to the most energy-efficient buildings, it takes an average of 20 to 30 years to overcome (through efficient operations, such as the use of solar panels and temperature-regulating insulation) the climate impact of construction, per the National Trust for Historic Preservation. With environmental sustainability mirroring the zeitgeist of 21st-century life, it makes sense that creative new methods to repurpose buildings are being implemented across the globe. Adaptive reuse considers how the old bones of a structure might lend themselves to changing demands, offering a resourceful, green middle ground between the wrecking ball approach and simply inhabiting a space ill-suited to new requirements. The operators of these 11 buildings decided against scrapping all remnants of the past, instead opting to embrace the gifts of their original blueprints as they reimagined their futures.
Photo: Bedrock Detroit1/11Book Tower (Detroit, Michigan)
At the time of its completion in 1926, Detroit’s Book Tower was the tallest building in the Motor City. The booming downtown would need more office and residential space, thought the Book brothers, a sibling duo who worked as real estate developers and entrepreneurs in their native Motown. Book Tower was part of their efforts to reimagine Washington Boulevard, an ambitious project for which they enlisted architect Louis Kamper. The limestone build with copper roofing was designed in the Italian Renaissance style and housed 38 stories worth of businesses and office space but faced a decline in the 1960s, changing management a number of times in the decades following until it was picked up in 2015 by Bedrock Real Estate. The group took on a $300 million restoration to the derelict skyscraper, outfitting it with 229 residential units, 117 extended stay accommodations, and 52,000 square feet of office and retail space, set to make its (second) debut this spring. Bedrock enlisted the Kraemer Design Group to handle historic preservation and tapped New York firm ODA for architecture and interior renovation, which involved using just a few historic photos as the basis for recreating and expanding the structure’s trademark glass atrium.
Photo: Manolo Yllera2/11Canfranc Estación Hotel (Canfranc, Spain)
Though its grand opening in 1928 was attended by the likes of the President of the French Republic and the King of Spain, Canfranc Estación’s days as a lavish, buzzing rail hub were long behind it by the time the Bárcelo Hotel Group took an interest in the abandoned space. The station had stopped operations entirely by spring of 1970, having been plagued by myriad misfortunes including a fire and a train derailment, as well as its reputation during World War II as a center of Nazi espionage activities. (Rumor has it that 86 tons of Nazi gold was trafficked through the station in the 1940s.) Its developers kept the station’s façade intact, renovating the interiors to craft an elevated, nostalgic atmosphere for the hotel’s 104 rooms and common areas. The rebranded space officially welcomed its firsts guests in January 2023, nearly a hundred years after its inauguration.
Photo: Chapeaux Marc/AGF/Getty Images3/11Elbphilharmonie Hamburg (Hamburg, Germany)
The majestic Elbphilharmonie Hamburg is a concert hall, but it’s also home to 45 private apartments, restaurants, and a spa, as well as a public viewing area offering panoramic views of the city. Constructed in 1963 as a warehouse called Kaispeicher A, the original boxy brick building currently serves as the base for a glassy, futuristic structure with a rooftop cut into dramatic swooping curves. The building’s 1.3 million square feet divide into three world-class concert venues. Acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota worked with architects to optimize the palatial space’s acoustics, outfitting it with 10,000 individually shaped gypsum fiber panels.
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Photo: Courtesy of Liberty Hotel4/11Liberty Hotel (Boston, Masachussetts)
Guests at downtown Boston’s Liberty Hotel can expect a luxury experience in any of its remodeled 298 rooms, but such was not the case for its visitors in the early days of the building’s life. Originally constructed in 1851, Charles Street Jail was thought to be one of the best examples of “Boston granite style,” which is characterized by use of stone local to the area in crafting large, severe-looking buildings. Prisoners at the institution revolted in 1973, decrying poor living conditions that were subsequently declared a violation of their rights, which led to the shutdown of the establishment. Reopening in September 2007, the new space didn’t shy away from its carceral past, instead choosing to integrate existing structures like the catwalk and “drunk tank” into the remodeled hotel space. While features like wrought iron work on its windows stand as a reminder of its earlier days, those who visit the Liberty are now, as its name suggests, free to come and go.
Photo: Courtesy of iam Gallery Madrid5/11Kaos Temple (Llanera, Spain)
Built in 1912 by architect Manuel del Busto, the Church of Santa Barbara had been abandoned for years before skaters took a liking to it. Where parishioners previously sat on pews now sits a half pipe for skaters. The religious convert retains the DNA of its papal origins but has been given a colorful refresh befitting its new audience: Skaters shred beneath maximalist rainbow graffiti-style murals covering the interior walls and arched ceiling. Okuda San Miguel installed his artwork in the structure in 2015, detailing it with skater-appropriate iconography like skulls and animals.
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Photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images6/11El Ateneo Grand Splendid (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
The Teatro Grand Splendid opened its doors in 1919, boasting a seating capacity of 1,050. An eclecticist style structure adorned with frescoes by Nazareno Orlandi, the theater hosted live performances as well as a radio station, Radio Splendid, which broadcasted from within its namesake structure. While it changed with the times once before, converting to operate as a cinema (and screening the first sound films presented in Argentina), its third reincarnation kicked off at the beginning of the aughts, when it rebranded as a bookstore. The Grand Splendid embraced its footprint, with theater boxes, murals, and stage (now a café) still intact despite renovations throughout its 22,000 square feet of interior space.
Photo: Richard Chivers/View Pictures/Getty Images7/11Bombay Sapphire Laverstoke Mill Distillery (Hampshire, UK)
Gin juggernaut Bombay Sapphire enlisted the help of renowned architecture firm Heatherwick Studio to convert an out-of-use former mill for British bank notes into a fully-operational, state-of-the-art distillery. The Laverstoke Mill facility opened to the public in 2014, after having not only restored a multitude of structures on the site but also integrating the existing machinery and equipment into the building’s new life as a distillery. The Heatherwick team, with the knowledge that both tropical and Mediterranean plants were needed to infuse the flavor of the spirit, crafted two intertwining glasshouses suited to the specific climatic conditions of each species.
Photo: Johan Dehlin8/11Modern Victorian Home (Northamptonshire, UK)
If this house looks like a New Age dwelling nestled amongst ancient ruins, that is by design: London-based firm Will Gamble Architects sought to honor the 17-century brickwork on the site, weaving new elements like floor-to-ceiling windows and an updated, custom-built kitchen into the space. A former cattle shed and the remains of an old parchment factory, as well as a 19th-century Victorian abode on the property, served as the designers’ foundation upon which to sculpt a whole new space. "The last thing we wanted to happen was for the new parts to overwhelm what was already there. In fact, we wanted it to be the opposite, as if the new parts were very much secondary, a bystander to the past," Will Gamble told AD in 2020.
Photo: Doublespace Photography9/117 St. Thomas (Toronto, Canada)
Working in collaboration with Thomas Commercial Developments, Hariri Pontarini Architects aimed to achieve a harmony between retail and commercial design with their 7 St. Thomas Street office-condo project. Six 1880-built townhouses on a three-story podium sit beneath a sparkling six-story tower, starkly illustrating the synthesis of new and old. While the preserved red brick harkens back to a very different time than curved, glassy, modern structure with which it shares an address, the newer build’s set-back positioning keeps it from overwhelming its centuries-old predecessor.
Photo: View Pictures/Getty Images10/11Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Cape Town, South Africa)
Zeitz MOCAA tasked Heatherwick Studio (clearly a global champion for adaptive reuse) with repurposing a grain silo complex into an open setting refined enough to serve as the largest museum of contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. Consisting of 42 concrete tubes—each standing over 100 feet tall—the silos were a trademark of the Cape Town waterfront that the Zeitz team wanted preserved. Heatherwick Studio collaborated with local South African architects to reimagine the building while maintaining the essence of its source material. An expansive exhibition space housing 100 galleries and a cathedral-like atrium were deftly sculpted out of the series of silos to create the museum, which officially opened in 2017.
Photo: Lou Angeles11/11Emporium Arcade Bar (San Francisco, California)
Emporium Arcade Bar offers among the most regal settings imaginable in which to play pool, Pacman, or skeeball. Originally opening its doors as the Harding Theater in 1926, the 12,000-square-foot Art Deco building operated as a concert hall. Harding hosted live performances (including the Grateful Dead) and was at one point used as a church and community center. It sat vacant from 2004 to 2017, when it was relaunched as a gaming venue. Historic features of the building, like its ornate molding and ceiling, were restored at time of renovation.
Originally published in AD US.
