A community is shaped by its people and their buildings; both should evolve through the generations. With every new era, there is a possibility for improvement and reinvention. A high-vacancy hotel may gain new life as a fully leased office. A historic factory can be reimagined as a museum and event center. An unused one-room schoolhouse can be creatively transformed into a unique single-family home. An industrial facility can be built out as a medical clinic. A warehouse can be converted to much-needed multifamily housing. These all are examples of adaptive reuse. Comprehensive evolutions, improvements and reinventions are only truly complete when the change also is reflected in the windows and doors.
Adaptive reuse refers to the process of repurposing old buildings for new uses, allowing the structures to retain their historical and architectural significance. While buildings are continually adapted to new uses, this intentional design trend rose in popularity in America during the 20th century in response to urbanization, preservation movements and sustainability concerns.
The term “adaptive reuse” in architecture is widely credited to Giorgio Cavaglieri, a New York-based architect and historic preservationist. His most-recognized work was the 1960s restoration and reuse of the Jefferson Market Courthouse in Greenwich Village into a branch of the New York Public Library.
State and federal government agencies continue to apply adaptive reuse strategies to optimize and extend their buildings’ longevity. Rather than demolishing structures, adaptive reuse breathes new life into them. This helps maintain the cultural identity embedded in older buildings and their meaning to the community, while updating them for current needs.
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When adapting an existing space for a new purpose, windows and doors are recognized as crucial architectural elements that enhance both the aesthetic and functional value of the historic buildings. In Cincinnati, the 21c Museum Hotel exemplifies this approach. The multi-purpose space occupies the former Metropole Hotel, built in 1912, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. During its adaptive reuse process, the building's double hung windows were carefully upgraded to Kolbe’s Ultra Series to preserve the historical integrity of the structure, the natural daylight for guests and the beautiful legacy for the community. These windows remain a key feature of the hotel’s neoclassical façade, which was maintained to respect the building’s original architecture, even as the interior was transformed into a contemporary art museum and modern luxury hotel.
Adaptive reuse preserves architectural heritage while meeting contemporary needs. It merges historical preservation with the future of urban development. Converting vacant and underused commercial buildings in population-dense cities to multifamily also can help address both affordable housing needs and the desire for quality city-based living.
Policymakers in cities including D.C., New York and San Francisco are taking actions to revitalize their downtowns through commercial-to-residential conversions. Recent studies found 15% of commercial district office buildings in the 105 largest U.S. cities are suitable for residential conversion. Estimates indicate this has the potential to add 171,470 units in multifamily buildings and activate pedestrian-friendly urban streetscapes.
Developers and architects agree that conversions can be completed more quickly than new construction and at 20% lower costs than demolish-and-rebuild projects. Assessing more than 1,300 commercial buildings in 130 cities across North America, the architectural firm, Gensler, similarly determined there is unprecedented opportunity to create new residential stock quickly, sustainably and at a lower cost than new construction.
Gensler also reported that many of the traits associated with unpleasant, outdated offices make for ideal, new residential adaptive reuse. Floor-to-floor height was a key indicator for success because former commercial ceilings can be made higher when converted for residential use. Typically, office buildings also feature full-height floor-to-ceiling windows, an attractive feature for both new commercial and multifamily purposes.
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After experiencing shelter-in-place orders of the COVID-19 pandemic, more people want to live and work within walking distance to retail, restaurants and entertainment. Those who had worked from home and have returned to their workplaces bring this fresh perspective. Many employers are seeking to attract and retain staff with spaces that support the well-being of both individuals and the larger community.
By reusing existing structures and their reclaimed, recycled and salvaged materials, architects and developers reduce the environmental footprint associated with new construction. This is further minimized by utilizing already embodied carbon and allocated land. When possible, existing windows and doors can be repaired, but often, modern replacements are needed to comply with current codes for energy-efficiency, accessibility and resiliency.
People of every ability deserve access to natural light, fresh air and safe, comfortable interiors. In previous decades, people often contended with leaky windows and their poor seals by hanging heavy curtains, stuffing cotton or placing “draft socks” on crevices, or attempting to encapsulate the interior window frame in plastic. Large, heavy windows took great strength to open and close, and often stayed shut. Similarly, decades-old sliding glass doors eventually began to leak and stick, until becoming too frustrating to open.
Now, there are expanded choices of available mechanisms to make these iconic, grand windows and doors easier and almost effortless to open. Balanced hardware or automation enhancements manage the heavy lifting and smooth operation. Sliding, folding and lift and slide doors plus operable windows support passive house design strategies and offer seasonal opportunities for natural ventilation. Thanks to advances in glass manufacturing, previous “punched” openings of small, individual windows or doors can be combined and enlarged for uninterrupted views and daylight.
Prior to World War II, windows and doors of all operations and sizes were composed by glazing individual glass lites into a larger gridwork. Windows with this construction are known as true divided lites or TDLs. After the war, larger lites of glass could be produced, but the style remained in fashion.
Performance divided lites, or PDLs—sometimes called simulated divided lites, or SDLs—combine insulating glass units with grilles in the airspace and applied grids to the exterior glass surface. This method preserves the traditional look where desired in adaptive reuse projects and achieves significant performance advantages. New, high-performance windows offer an additional opportunity to conserve resources, reduce energy use and benefit from improved operational savings across the building’s extended lifespan.
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Numerous glass and glazing types also are available to control unwanted solar heat, reflect UV light, prevent avian collisions, minimize light pollution or resist flying debris such as in hurricanes. Architects involved with adaptive reuse projects can finetune their window selections by specifying different glass types for certain elevations, floors or even rooms. These adjustments can further protect occupants and their belongings, as well as reduce energy use associated with heating and cooling.
When it comes to the question of improving a building’s energy performance, window and door glazing should be paired with appropriate framing to attain the best results. Today’s all-aluminum framed products have an insulating barrier between the interior and exterior surfaces to minimize heat transfer. This keeps utility costs down and helps provide a comfortable, consistent temperature for the people living, working and learning inside. Glastra®, a hybrid of fiberglass and UV-stable polymer, is Kolbe’s proprietary framing option engineered for thermal performance, strength and resiliency, including consideration for impact resistance and coastal conditions.
Many historic properties prefer custom-crafted all-wood frames to authentically honor the visual appearance and tactile connection to natural materials common to earlier centuries. Wood, aluminum and other present-day framing all can be formed into a wide range of curved and geometric shapes. Certain window manufacturers can combine framing materials, too. For instance, Glastra and aluminum-clad exterior framing can each be paired with wood interiors.
In Providence, Rhode Island, 60 Ship Street serves as another adaptive reuse example and showcases Kolbe’s Forgent Series with Glastra framing and PDLs. This 1925 jewelry factory has taken many forms, including the Narragansett Brewery. More recently, it was fully renovated into a modern, urban loft office. The large industrial steel windows, key architectural elements of the structure, were upgraded to new, direct set windows constructed with energy-efficient glazing and 7/8-inch PDLs in a four-by-four lite pattern. The Glastra exterior framing was finished in a Midnight color to resemble the former dark metal. These large windows honor the building’s industrial past while meeting contemporary standards and supporting its current occupants.
Window manufacturers can also finish framing profiles in bronze, copper and other colors to mimic a metallic aesthetic of lead, iron and more rarified materials of the past. Painted finishes for aluminum and wood can be selected in a nearly unlimited range of colors to match and restore prior palettes or to boldly reinvigorate spaces for new uses. Windows also can be finished in separate colors on the exterior and the interior.
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More broadly, simply learning more about adaptive reuse philosophy will help reveal the potential in any space. For example, at Austin Community College’s Rio Grande Campus—although the building has been used for educational purposes for decades and continues to be—one of their previously outdoor courtyards was recently remade into something more profoundly functional for the academic community there. New Kolbe Ultra Series windows face into this now-covered communal space. There, students congregate to study and socialize while the glass allows illuminated views to permeate nearly every corridor.
“We were able to create these vistas through the buildings. When you’re on one end of the building, you can literally see through to the other end and out to those views,” said Adam Bush, AIA, president of Overland Partners. “Creating these strong interconnections and visual connections really helps with wayfinding in a big building like this. It really creates that sense of community that is so vital.”
Whether modifying a whole building or a specific area, windows and doors play a key role in ensuring every space is being used—and reused—to its full capability.
Successful adaptive reuse projects demonstrate how essential windows and doors are to balancing preservation with innovation. They are integral to maintaining a building’s character while propelling its functionality and longevity into the future.