Examining the relationship between new function and building sub-system interventions of reused industrial buildings-case of Turkey

Developments in production and introduction of new power sources other than manpower have created need for specific production places such as mills, impellers and silos. Especially by the industrial revolution in 19th century, the number of industrial buildings increased parallel with mechanization but in time, these buildings and/or equipment became dysfunctional. In the world after 1950s, these kinds of industrial buildings, which remain idle but historically important as they reflect their period’s characteristics have become a subject of concern. In Turkey, starting from Ottoman era numerous industrial buildings were also constructed; especially between the late 1800s and early 1900s. Like the case in the world, idle industrial buildings, became a concern in Turkey as well and different functions were selected, when adaptive reuse strategy was preferred. Within the context of a master study, interventions on building structural system and building elements that were made for implementing new function to existing industrial buildings, are being investigated to reveal their relationship with selected function. In this regard, comparative analyses on case buildings are being performed on survey, restitution and restoration projects to determine and discuss the type, magnitude and reason of interventions, (i.e. either to restore the original or to adapt to new function’s requirements). In this context, in the paper, comparative analyses performed on four historically listed industrial facilities are presented. The facilities were selected considering the commonality of their original and new functions among reuse cases in Turkey. All facilities were originally for food, beverage and/or tobacco production, and two of them were converted into cultural centre, while the remaining were adapted as education building. Analyses showed that the main aim in the reuse projects of these buildings was restoring their original state with minimal interventions as possible for adapting to new function. Besides others, the most remarkable changes that were made for adaptive reuse were in the circulation system and internal walls, almost regardless of new function. Although interactions between the magnitude of interventions and the selected functions were observed to be present, this magnitude had been also affected from other issues, such as the limitations of the structural system type, previous interventions, size of the facility, etc.