Sustainable Revitalization – Adaptive Reuse of Industrial Buildings: 活現築蹟 -- 工廈 活化 新生

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.