Conservation of historic buildings brings multiple benefits to the society. It not only preserves cultural significance, minimizes construction wastes, extends building life cycle, but it also encourages the sustainability of the built environment by reusing existing building stocks.
This book investigates into a conservation practice, known as adaptive reuse. It begins with some basic concepts and the historical context of other conservation practices, followed by a series of local and overseas case studies on adaptive reuse to show how this practice evolves and negotiates among historic buildings and modern regulations.
In Hong Kong, industrial buildings are left under-utilized due to the massive shift of production plants to the mainland China in recent decades. These industrial buildings can be adaptively reused for new uses. The final two chapters focus on the revitalization of industrial buildings in Hong Kong and investigate the example of adaptive reuse of Luen Tai Industries Building, showcasing the process and challenges of its long-haul transformation into a Ginza-style shopping mall, life@KCC. Every case study in this book becomes a learning lesson for anyone interested in the process of adaptive reuse.
Registered Architect and Authorized Person in Hong Kong. She is currently the Programme Leader and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Design and Environment at the Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong (THEi).
She has published a number of architecture-related books, including Old Tai O Police Station, We Own the City and Building Materials and Technology in Hong Kong (co-published) and contributed to the Hong Kong – Barcelona Urban Exchange.
After graduated from the School of Architecture, University of Waterloo, Tris worked in Rome, Amsterdam, London and Vancouver before returning to Hong Kong. She has worked on a broad range of projects including urban revitalization schemes, district aspiration studies, waterfront planning research, sustainable development, heritage conservation and public engagements. Tris advocates an active approach to engaging community participation in the practice in architecture and design in all of her work.
