Repurposing of buildings and Structures

Constructing a building takes a substantial investment in terms of materials, manufactured components, skilled labour and time.

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​Repurposing of buildings and structures

​Change of use

Older buildings often play an important role in linking the modern era to historical

architectural character and cultural heritage. However, there are also sound

practical reasons for considering the repurposing of a building.

​As working and shopping methods change, the use of buildings need to adapt to be viable and meet the needs of the local communities. 

The farmer industry has suffered in recent years and traditional barns and farming buildings have become redundant.
One way to avoid this is to convert these buildings into either houses, holiday lets, farm shops or small designer studios – whichever best meets the local market. 

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​Agricultural Buildings

Corner shops are often converted into houses as people move towards online shopping, supermarkets or using out of town retail parks.

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​Commercial Buildings

Churches are regularly converted into luxury open-plan accommodation as the numbers in congregations fall. Well-completed conversions maintain the character and features of the existing building

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​Cultural Buildings

Large industrial warehouses, factories and commercial building are often prominent buildings in desirable locations with an ascetically pleasing façade.  These are mainly repurposed as apartments, but some conversions have other uses such as retail, commercial and leisure facilities.

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​Industrial buildings

​Modernisation and refurbishment

​Modernisation is adapting something to meet needs or habits. Examples in a modernised house would be the replacement of traditional items with fitted kitchens, double glazed windows, new doors, central heating, fitted bathrooms, electrical rewires, etc.

​Existing run-down properties are now being remodelled for modern living by local authorities or housing associations, encouraging people to return to traditional community-orientated town housing. These offer affordable rentable homes or can be homeowner-occupied.

​System upgrades 

​As part of a maintenance and refurbishment program of a house or workplace, system upgrades are an integral element in ensuring that the end user has what they require to live and work comfortably.  This is especially important to ensure that businesses remain viable, economically and financially. 

​Examples of upgrades include:​ 

fuel efficient boilers​ 
replacement energy sources (air, ground, wind, solar) ​ 
​full fibre optic internet connections​ 
​IT systems
​alarm and intercom systems. 

​Recycling and reuse 

​Recycling building materials whenever possible reduces the impact on natural resources – fewer trees cut down, fewer base materials being quarried or mined; all of this in turn reduces the carbon footprint as less processing, manufacturing, shipping and transporting all occur. 

Many items can be upcycled or repurposed bringing a designer, vintage-feel look to a property. 

Recycled materials can be used to recreate a traditional look – during heritage work or repairs to a traditional building, the use of recycled bricks and timber might be the only option that will produce the finish required. 

​Architectural salvage 

​Architectural salvage is the removal of decorative items from a property and can include doors, windows, panelling, decorative mouldings, ironmonger fittings, fireplaces, lintels, sills, stone flags, bricks, chimney pots, tiles and slates and other sought-after items. 

​These materials are highly valuable for repairing heritage properties and to developers looking to add period charm to a pub, restaurant, hotel etc.

​Aggregates

​Any masonry product that can not be recycled can be crushed into aggregate that is used in a range of products. Stone, slate, marble, granite, etc. can be used for decretive aggregates. Bricks and concrete can be crushed and used as hard core or as aggregate for concrete.

​Type 1 concrete is produced by crushed aggregate – recycling waste materials from construction and demolition projects. It is perfect for using in trench fills, backfills, oversite fills and as a granular sub base.

​Metals

​Because ferrous and non-ferrous metals can be re-melted and reformed into new products almost continuously, scrap/reclaimed metal is an ideal material for recycling – reducing both the depletion of natural resources and the carbon footprint from producing new metals.

The amount of energy saved using recycled metals compared to virgin are:

•      Steel 62–74%

•      Copper 87%

•      Zinc 63%

•      Lead 60%

​Any Questions