This study seeks to examine how the conversion of grain elevators into housing is an effective method of adaptive reuse. It uses theories and concepts on heritage preservation, downtown revitalization, place theory and environmental sustainability. Based on the literature review, there is a need for change in planning policy and there are both advantages and disadvantages to adaptive reuse. The methodology and data sources include examining and analyzing planning documents, surveys for the public and professionals, and demographic data. Case studies included converted grain elevators located in Australia and Norway and also a case study in Canada for the purpose of future recommendations. These methods answer the research question of how do planning policies and the perspectives of planning professionals and the public affect the process of the adaptive reuse of grain elevators into housing? Subsequent questions include topics such as whether adaptive reuse is an effective approach to downtown revitalization, which policies impede or facilitate the process, how perspectives influence decisions, and how demographics are linked to housing availability. The significance of this study on planning practice is that it helps form policy recommendations to address the needs of the public and help improve the efficiency of adaptive reuse in the planning process. In conclusion, the public and professionals were generally in favour of this type of adaptive reuse but many had concerns about cost and gentrification. Also, more policies need to be created that address adaptive reuse specifically. For the future use of the Toronto case study I recommended that converting the grain elevator into housing is the optimal choice. The limitations of this study include data availability, non-responses for surveys, language barriers, case study locations, and time constraints.

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This report, situated in Birmingham, Alabama, explores the best strategies for implementing arts-based adaptive reuse development in vacant or available downtown buildings. Through adaptive-reuse, a strategy of repurposing old buildings for new uses, the arts sector in Birmingham can be nurtured and strengthened. In this report, I present the major implications associated with the strengthening of the arts community. These implications include economic development, central city revitalization, community building, and gentrification. / text

This study seeks to examine how the conversion of grain elevators into housing is an effective method of adaptive reuse. It uses theories and concepts on heritage preservation, downtown revitalization, place theory and environmental sustainability. Based on the literature review, there is a need for change in planning policy and there are both advantages and disadvantages to adaptive reuse. The methodology and data sources include examining and analyzing planning documents, surveys for the public and professionals, and demographic data. Case studies included converted grain elevators located in Australia and Norway and also a case study in Canada for the purpose of future recommendations. These methods answer the research question of how do planning policies and the perspectives of planning professionals and the public affect the process of the adaptive reuse of grain elevators into housing? Subsequent questions include topics such as whether adaptive reuse is an effective approach to downtown revitalization, which policies impede or facilitate the process, how perspectives influence decisions, and how demographics are linked to housing availability. The significance of this study on planning practice is that it helps form policy recommendations to address the needs of the public and help improve the efficiency of adaptive reuse in the planning process. In conclusion, the public and professionals were generally in favour of this type of adaptive reuse but many had concerns about cost and gentrification. Also, more policies need to be created that address adaptive reuse specifically. For the future use of the Toronto case study I recommended that converting the grain elevator into housing is the optimal choice. The limitations of this study include data availability, non-responses for surveys, language barriers, case study locations, and time constraints.

This thesis explores the possibilities of adaptively reusing an existing site to provide new services and work spaces for the local artistic community within a once heavily used Brit- ish naval ship building and repair station, but now a major centre of tourist activity on the island of Bermuda. This thesis examines how a courtyard and two large stone storehous- es can be refurbished and made useful again rather than torn down. There exists a strong national bias to maintain and preserve the heritage of the place. By understanding both the site’s inherent value, varying levels of design can be proposed that not only transform the site but also bring forward a new sense of place. The adaptive reuse design and the program chosen is a synthetic response to the inherent cultural and historic values of the place, providing spaces that meet needs of the present artist and artisan communities of the Dockyard.

This thesis addresses the revitalization of the former Nova Scotia Textiles Limited mill in Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada. Windsor is a small town that lies along the confluence of the Avon and St. Croix River shores, off the Bay of Fundy, and is the gateway to the Annapolis Valley region. This abandoned textile mill serves as a monument in the landscape while also holding a special part in the identity of the town’s historic industrial past. This thesis proposes to establish a meaningful connection between the textile mill and the community, as well as with the phenomenal Fundy landscape by means of a regional interpretive center. Commercial, institutional and recreational facilities ensure year-round stability for the site. A context-based approach links the architectural intervention to the dynamic layers of building, site and tidal landscape beyond.

The current human-created division between the natural and built environments has exacerbated environmental problems because nature has been designed as and, consequently, is seen as an Other to be utilized and manipulated at will. Exploring this disconnected relationship between humans and nature, as well as its origin and its effect on building occupants and the environment, is thus a necessary part of this project. The primary concern, however, centers on how we can establish a relationship with the natural environment through interior design to help foster ecological design practices and positive environmental behaviors that move beyond sustainability, resulting in a positive human-nature relation while supporting a coevolutionary perspective. Specifically, this investigation utilizes biophilic design as a solution to the division. The product is an adaptively reused structure that houses a mixed-use, multi-unit residential development, which explores the creation of human-nature connections through direct, indirect, and symbolic means.

As a master’s practicum of interior design, this project is concerned with the role of design in shaping mass and individual identity. Cultural commodities, as components of the Culture Industry, effectively define a communal identity for the individuals. The Winnipeg Metropolitan Theatre is chosen as the site of this practicum. This Practicum is interested in defining new spatial relationships and functions. In order for these goals to be achieved, a new function has been defined. The public studio for ephemeral arts is open to the whole society for being involved in the artistic process. By using a qualitative research method, this practicum studies the theoretical aspects of modern mass identity. However being an interior design project, it heavily relies on the ideas of a selected number of theorists, mainly from the Frankfurt school, for building the theoretical foundation of the design. The new design is the result of questioning the existing space’s spatial hierarchy, the new function’s spatial requirements, and a critical approach toward the adaptive reuse of an existing building.

This project involved the adaptive reuse of Maw Garage at 112 King Street. The building was transformed into an interpretive centre for Winnipeg’s Exchange District. As museums are faced with challenges of being relevant in today’s context, museum planners have started to shift their attention toward new approaches for the design of these environments. The purpose of this project was to investigate the evolving nature of the museum, and to determine how its role in society could be modified to better accommodate its audience’s needs. Society’s understanding of heritage in regard to the way we interpret, relate to, and connect with objects, each other, and environments has changed. A thorough review of literature resulted in a broad understanding of post-museum, constructivist learning, and public space theories. Combined with knowledge gained from the analysis of three precedents and programming, these theories enabled the development of a contemporary museum that challenges stereotypical ideas of the museum. This design proposal illustrates one possible way in which post-museum, constructivist learning, and public space theories could be used to design a new museum. Although the solution presented here is specific to Winnipeg’s Exchange District and the Heritage Winnipeg client, conceivably, the same theories could be used to design interpretive centres elsewhere in North America.

This project involved the adaptive reuse of Maw Garage at 112 King Street. The building was transformed into an interpretive centre for Winnipeg’s Exchange District. As museums are faced with challenges of being relevant in today’s context, museum planners have started to shift their attention toward new approaches for the design of these environments. The purpose of this project was to investigate the evolving nature of the museum, and to determine how its role in society could be modified to better accommodate its audience’s needs. Society’s understanding of heritage in regard to the way we interpret, relate to, and connect with objects, each other, and environments has changed. A thorough review of literature resulted in a broad understanding of post-museum, constructivist learning, and public space theories. Combined with knowledge gained from the analysis of three precedents and programming, these theories enabled the development of a contemporary museum that challenges stereotypical ideas of the museum. This design proposal illustrates one possible way in which post-museum, constructivist learning, and public space theories could be used to design a new museum. Although the solution presented here is specific to Winnipeg’s Exchange District and the Heritage Winnipeg client, conceivably, the same theories could be used to design interpretive centres elsewhere in North America.