Why Adaptive Reuse Is the Future of Architecture

I love starting an article with “Albert Einstein once said” — and in this case, he apparently did say: “In the midst of every crisis lies great opportunity.” It’s a sentiment that resonates now more than ever.

With office vacancy rates at near 30 year highs (1), new-build construction costs continuing to rise (2), ongoing delays in the planning system, and a focus on reducing carbon emissions in construction, the opportunity for adaptive re-use – especially of older B and C grade office buildings –presents an increasingly compelling alternative to demolition and rebuild.

Three recent AJC projects demonstrate the architectural, planning, and sustainability potential of office-to-residential and office-to-education conversions: Smail Street in Ultimo, Reddam House North Shore in North Sydney, and Buckland House in Chippendale.

Smail Street Ultimo

In an excellent location across the road from Broadway Shopping centre and within walking distance of Central Station and two major universities, the under-occupied 100-year-old, 8-storey office building was a perfect opportunity for conversion into a humming 156-room urban living community for Apt Residential, using the Co-Living provisions of the Housing SEPP.

Co-Living is an ideal alternative use for commercial buildings as the planning rules do not require the same level of solar access and cross ventilation as BTR or residential apartments subject to the Apartment Design Guide (ADG), making previously unviable sites — such as overshadowed or south-facing blocks — feasible.

The limitations of Smail Street’s deep floor plate was resolved by cutting a skylit atrium into the plan, to bring daylight deep into the floorplates and down to the ground floor reception, connecting every level via an internal garden courtyard and circulation and communal social spaces.

Celebrating the existing structure of massive timber columns and herringbone ceilings internally, the new work strips back and exposes the timber and brickwork inside and out, integrating and highlighting the building’s history to create a unique living experience.  The adaptive reuse strategy exposes these materials, integrating the building’s industrial past into a contemporary living environment.

Externally, the new work is subtle, with new street front glazing to activate the lobby and retail spaces, updated windows to provide natural ventilation and meet energy efficiency standards, and a resident common rooftop pavilion, surrounded by a landscaped roof garden.

Planning rules for Co-Living require that a certain proportion of common indoor and outdoor spaces receive solar access, which can be met by providing a roof terrace and common room, which is also a great selling point for the property to attract tenants. Office buildings often have oversized or redundant plant areas on the roof which can be converted for the common spaces.

Another attractive factor are lower parking requirements than equivalent residential uses due to the nature of the resident cohort – typically single professionals, recent arrivals or limited term work-related residents, which means that car ownership and use is therefore lower and can be serviced by car-share, e-bike and e-scooter facilities.

Another advantage of adaptive re-use is speed in planning assessment; development consent for Smail Street was granted within 6 months thanks to the work being largely within the existing envelope, saved significant amounts of carbon and met a clearly demonstrated need for change to help revitalise the building and local area.

Reddam House North Shore

This project embraces creative adaption whilst demonstrating an innovative approach to urban school environments.

The original building, Simsmetal House, was designed by Harry Seidler and completed in 1971. It was designed as a new approach to the office environment with large north facing terraces and significant access to natural daylight. Fifty years on demand and expectations of office spaces have changed and unfortunately Simsmetal House was no longer considered optimum and had started to degrade as a result.

However, these original innovative design approaches positioned the building well for adaption as a new vertical school campus responding to the demographical shift of the local area and embracing the new metro connections to meet demand.

The adaptive design retained Seidler’s original column grid and glazing strategy, with classrooms positioned along the east and west façades, and shared spaces extending onto north-facing terraces.

A key success of the development was turning constraints into opportunities. The existing birse soleil had become structurally unsound, requiring additional steel support. Through the replacement of this the density could be reduced due to the change of use and overshadowing impacts from the construction of neighbouring properties. The result retains the architectural integrity whilst increasing daylight in, and views out, of the learning spaces.

Modernisation of the plant provided a whole new useable space on the rooftop creating a senior school hub benefiting from the extensive water views. Additional benefits throughout included maximising ceiling heights in the classrooms improving amenity and light access throughout the floorplate.

Every opportunity to improve amenity and functionality was explored including excavation under the building to provide a sports facility and gathering space utilising non required basement. The double height space is overlooked from the School entry creating an engaging address and ensuring natural daylight to what could have been considered a basement space.

Many of the architectural interventions work in seamlessly with the existing architecture to create a cohesive environment celebrating the local heritage listed building through collaboration with Harry Seidler Associates and heritage consultant, Curio Projects.

An architectural icon of the 70s now adapted to be, once again, representative of architectural innovation both for adaptive reuse and vertical education. This adaption has restored and renewed the building ensuring it’s life long into the future and demonstrated how constrained, urban sites can respond to meet educational demands and add to the creation of urban communities.

The success of this adaptation has been recognised nationally and internationally, having been shortlisted for the Australian Institute of Architects Awards, the World Architecture Festival, the Urban Developer Industry Awards, Sustainability Awards and the Urban Land Institute Awards.

Buckland House

Utilising the unexploited height and floorspace available above an existing 2-storey 100-year-old commercial office building in Chippendale, AJC created an 81-room Co-Living community for HBB Property through adding 4 new floors on top of the existing building, while retaining the existing brick façade and cast-iron internal structure.

The existing structure dates from the building’s original use as a steel works and was over-engineered to support industrial loads and machinery, which allowed 1,800m2 of new floor area to be added with minimal structural intervention, saving embodied carbon in the existing structure.

The rooftop common room and garden will satisfy the Co-Living planning requirements for solar access to common areas and turn 1/3 of this highly urbanised site into landscaping to help mitigate the urban heat island effect, create a habitat through careful selection of native plant species, and provide a beautiful amenity for the residents.

Originally approved as a commercial office building, the planning consent could be modified for Co-Living residential use, despite being heavily overshadowed by a neighbouring building to the north and with a significant southern orientation further limiting opportunities for solar access which would have made any other residential use such as BTR or apartments impossible.

The approved basement, loading dock and on-site car parking could be deleted with the change of use from commercial to Co-Living, saving significant costs, time and complexity in construction. Deleting the basement avoided the uncertainty of exposing potential soil contamination dating from the site’s historic industrial use further de-risking the project.

The new addition will be a beautiful addition to the area, respecting the solar access to neighbouring apartments by stepping back at the top. The new addition is expressed as a finer grained, glass and metal counterpoint to the plain masonry form of the original building, referencing the historical association with metalworking on the site, with a recessed ‘shadowline’ detail creating a clear break between new and old.

Conclusion

As Australia’s cities grapple with housing shortages, net-zero targets, and shifting urban dynamics, adaptive reuse is no longer just an alternative — it’s a design imperative.

These three projects demonstrate how adaptive reuse can unlock value, minimise environmental impact, and breathe new life into underutilised commercial buildings. Whether transforming outdated offices into urban Co-Living communities or reimagining modernist icons as vertical schools, each project both celebrates and reinterprets its site’s history — while responding directly to today’s social, economic, and environmental challenges.

Sources:

1. Sydney Q1 snapshot Australian CBD Office Leasing Market Snapshot Q1 2025 | Tenant CS
2. NSW Treasury report Cost and feasibility estimates for supplying new residential dwellings in New South Wales 16 August 2024 Report re
3. X Developer apt.Residential snaps up Ultimo site for build-to-rent project | The Australian

This article was written by Brian Mariotti, Director, and Dua Green, CEO and Director of AJC Architects.
 AJC is a Sydney-based studio specialising in architecture, interior design, and urban design. The practice is known for its work across education, residential, sport, community, and adaptive reuse projects — creating places that are socially responsive, sustainable, and built for longevity.