Transformation of architectural heritage through adaptive modular systems

Most towns and places have their own character and identity, and the architectural heritage is often a carrier of this identity in local communities. Many of these are today challenged by changes in demography and production, where the original buildings are abandoned in order to meet new needs within agriculture, industry and housing (Hansen 2013). The result is that the heritage buildings are in decay and demolished, while new more functional buildings are being built, leading to a loss of history and cultural heritage. A solution to this problem could be to promote adaptive reuse of the historic buildings, which will be both more sustainable and preserve a part of the place identity and history. This is both difficult and costly compared with building new, and it can seem more rational to demolish them and build new according to modern and industrialized construction methods.
The Aarhus School of Architecture entered into a partnership with Faaborg-Midtfyn Municipality to develop a method and conduct a pilot project. The task of the demonstration project is to develop and construct a housing project in an existing factory building from 1905 in the small Danish town Ryslinge, which will be able to compete with corresponding conventional housing construction.