Post by michael queale

Heritage for Housing – Churchill Trust Study Tour – Week six highlights The week was spent travelling across the Netherlands – Amsterdam, Den Hague, Delft and Rotterdam. What an amazing country! I met with architects, academics at TU Delft and a passionate social enterprise development company delivering a unique mode of housing in vacant heritage buildings.  Insights include: -              Case studies – MVRDV Architects and Braaksma & Roos Architects both provided insight into the challenges and success of several adaptive reuse projects for housing. MVRDV is located in a heritage building in Rotterdam, a stunning 1950s industrial space that has been repurposed for their office and other commercial uses. Their design solution for ‘Frosilo’ in Copenhagen is inspired – converting concrete silos into high end apartments using a clever structural solution. Braaksma and Roos’ sensitive architecture respects the heritage values of a listed place, while also engaging and refocusing these values as part of a wider contemporary narrative in their reuse work.  -              A visit to TU Delft (University of Technology) Architecture School provided detailed insight into adaptive reuse in Europe. I had a long discussion with faculty member, Prof. Dr Hilde Remoy, Professor of Real Estate Management, Head of the Real Estate Management section, who recently co-edited ‘Adaptive Reuse for Housing’ (translated 2025). The book is a contemporary reflection on the issues behind adaptive reuse, with a focus on the Netherlands. Of particular interest is their ‘collaborative housing’ approach, where a collective of private owners develop and manage their own property. This extends to delivery of adaptive reuse housing projects as well.  -              A visit to housing development company, ‘Steenvlinder’, was fascinating. The social enterprise development company is experienced in the adaptive reuse of vacant heritage places, seeing such buildings as an asset, not a problem. They deliver ‘shell housing’ for purchasers to complete into the future. Buildings are restored, fire walls installed and services are delivered to a point. Owners can then fit out at their own pace, exactly to their own requirements. This model keeps the initial development cost low and gives owners flexibility in the adaptive reuse of heritage buildings