Imagine if we took the circular economy to the limit in the built environment and made adaptive reuse of existing buildings a core strategy for developing new spaces. This is the premise behind Don’t Waste Buildings, an international movement that recently launched in Australia.
Led by i2C Architects purpose director, Claire Bowles, the inaugural meeting involved i2C residential lead (Victoria), Gavin Salt; ADP director, Alex Sear; Tract associate, Adriano Zarosinski; Nature Collective founder, Stephanie Sirianni; City of Melbourne director climate change and city resilience, Krista Milne; University of Melbourne professor, Brendon McNiven; and Up Property managing director and partner, Marcus Jankie.
The initial focus will be Victoria, however Bowles has put out a call for anyone, anywhere to become involved.
In a news item at the DWB website Bowles said the voluntary effort aims to put a spotlight on embodied carbon, highlight case studies of completed adaptive re-use projects, and advocate for planning reforms and financial and tax incentives that will support retrofits.
“There is a huge danger we won’t meet our environmental commitments if we don’t accelerate the case for the productive use of empty and underperforming buildings. Not only for the sake of sufficiency and embodied carbon but also for much needed housing and social infrastructure quicker and at a lower cost,” she said.
Speed to market is definitely a benefit Marcus Jankie and his team have recognised in their adaptive re-use projects.
He tells The Fifth Estate these kinds of projects are one of the main types of development Up Property undertakes and it is looking to continue to expand its portfolio by finding new buildings to re-life and develop in Victoria and nationally.
Multiple upsides from the developer perspective
The motivation for focusing on this type of development is because they can “truly add value” to the existing building and site. The environmental gain is part of the benefit, but the value for the asset, the community and the people that will use it is the primary driver.
Speed to market and delivering a sought-after product are other factors, and this is where the financial benefit stacks up, although there are no marked cost savings, in terms of overall project development budgets.
Each building provides its own unique opportunity, he says. This is the “secret sauce” his team discovers and adds in the preliminary stages.
What’s in the secret sauce?
The ingredients of the sauce start with creating a team including an excellent town planner, building surveyor, building services engineering expertise, project manager, structural engineering expertise, architecture and sustainability consultants to develop a clear picture of the existing building and its potential.
“You never know what you are going to be getting,” Jankie says. Many existing buildings have reached the point they are no longer needed for their prior purpose or may have reached a point of dilapidation that makes them unworkable in the market.
The investment at the early stages also includes involving end user stakeholders. Jankie says that unlike an entirely new development where it’s possible to rely on basic market trends to justify the project viability, adaptive reuse requires understanding more precisely who will utilise the redeveloped property, and what they are likely to want from the building.
Reusing a former tobacco products site
When his company acquired the former Phillip Morris factory in Moorabbin, for example, profiled in The Fifth Estate in 2023, agents told them it wouldn’t work to pivot the site to a blend of commercial offices, food and beverage, entertainment and community facilities and open space.
However, they went ahead and over a seven-year journey multiple buildings were refurbished through a staged process. Morris Moor now provides 50,000 square metres of operational completed commercial and hospitality space, with only 600 sq m remaining available for lease
Turns out, people out in Melbourne’s southeastern suburbs are keen to work, operate businesses, and enjoy recreation and events locally. More than 1000 jobs are now based out of the former factory.
People get attached to places
Jankie says the fabric of the building and its cultural and emotional meaning for people was a major ingredient in the development’s success. This is something that is true for most existing buildings, he explains. People might have a memory attached to the place itself, or they may have emotional connections to some of the materials such as bricks.
Creating this kind of “culture-filled, character-rich environment” can be much harder to create with a new building.
“We don’t give enough credit to nostalgia.”
The value-add process
Another benefit from the developer perspective is being able to create the vision for the site proactively, rather than wait to see what a consultant team comes up with.
“You get to shape the project and add value in a critical manner.”
“We both meet traditional norms (of the property industry) and buck them in a good way.”
Redevelopments and adaptive reuse can also transform underutilised and ageing assets in ways that address emerging needs.
In Geelong, a recent project took a dilapidated two-storey arcade in the CBD and converted it into a five-storey mental health services hub for Barwon Health. Speed to market was a major advantage of the re-use approach for the developer and the client, Jankie says.
Scaling the approach
Our capital city CBDs have many opportunities for similar projects. Buildings that have aged out of their prior use are prime candidates for reinvention.
“It can be done on all kinds of different scales,” Jankie says. “There is a beauty to it. You create these moments you wouldn’t be able to do with a new building.”
The major obstacles a project might encounter include scarce or inadequate documentation of the existing asset, which is why having a multidisciplinary team involved in the early stages is important. There are planning hurdles to jump and there can also be issues around upgrades required to meet the current building codes.
“There is a lack of connection between the building code and existing buildings,” Jankie says.
The inaugural DWB meeting showed him there is “definitely an undertow and a movement” of people who are passionate about adaptive reuse from both a design and sustainability perspective.
“People really love the feeling and character an old building can provide. There is this passion behind it, for culture, fun, nostalgia and community, in bringing something back.”
Connections across disciplines is necessary, he adds. To create major momentum, it will need architects, materials people, engineers, developers and even political people.
“It will need incentives from government, as it does take a lot of work and investment to do (adaptive reuse). If we want to do it at scale and ensure adaptive reuse is the feasible commercial option, we may need to see tax breaks, planning reform, incentives, or other support from government.”