REDESIGN – UPGRADING THE BUILDING STOCK TO MEET (NEW) USER DEMANDS

misbe2011 Tracking Number 225

Abstract: Financial and real estate crises and “new ways of working” reduce the need for office space. As a consequence, office markets become replacement markets without a quantitative need for new office buildings: new buildings drive out bad buildings. In the Netherlands, currently 14% of the office space is vacant, of which 60% is redundant or obsolete. Office users, guided by the government, consider sustainable office space important for their image and status. Besides they want to be accommodated in high quality buildings that fit with their current and future need for space, taking into account expected shrinkage or further development and expansion. Quite often, new office developments were the response to these demands. Public opinion and emerging governmental awareness of sustainability oppose the construction of new office buildings in locations with a high vacancy level, while office users, real estate developers and investors crave for new office developments. Can redesign of existing office buildings answer to the demand for new sustainable office space? In former research we have revealed that location and building characteristics have a strong influence on office users’ preferences and decisions to move to other buildings. Knowledge about these characteristics is important when determining the potential future use of the existing office stock. Based on foregoing research, we propose new use of existing office buildings and delve into the measures that need to be taken in order to adapt existing buildings to new use.