Review and assessment of factors affecting adaptive reuse of commercial projects in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

PurposeThis paper intends to review and assess the factors influencing adaptive reuse of commercial projects, throughout their life cycle, in Saudi Arabia.Design/methodology/approachA mixed approach of literature review, pilot-testing and questionnaire survey was utilized to identify and assess the factors affecting adaptive reuse of commercial projects. Thirty-eight factors were identified and categorized under four groups, corresponding to the key phases of the project life cycle. The questionnaire survey was administered to a targeted group of 90 architecture/engineering, construction and facilities management (AEC/FM) practitioners of building adaptive reuse, in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The relative importance index (RII) for each factor was calculated. Three levels of agreement, based on the ranking of the factors, among the respondents were determined.FindingsThe most important factors affecting adaptive reuse of commercial projects are: structural integrity of the building, municipal approval for the land use change, enforcement of safety procedures at the project site, compliance with health and safety measures and accuracy and completeness of the contract documents. A high level of agreement was observed among the three groups of respondents, on the ranking of the factors.Originality/valueThis research expands the body of knowledge, through providing AEC/FM practitioners, with the type, importance and ranking of the influential factors on adaptive reuse of commercial projects, throughout their life cycle.

Investigation of AEC/FM practices in adaptive reuse projects

“…In this context, the results indicated that “lack of data and information” is the third frequent challenge facing A/Es (percent frequency = 83.3%). This finding corroborates with observations in previous research (Remøy, 2010; Conejos et al , 2016; Fieldson, 2017; Eray et al , 2019; Hamida et al , 2020). Inadequate capacity of the building systems was also concluded to be among the frequent challenges that face A/Es.…”

A framework for sustainable adaptive reuse: understanding vacancy and underuse in existing urban buildings

“…The fascination of redeveloping old building forms for new novel experiences is growing (Lynch, 2016). Increasingly, nonheritage buildings, perceived to be obsolete, vacant, or underused, are connected with adaptive reuse, including commercial offices Hamida et al, 2020), industrial buildings (Petković-Grozdanovića et al, 2016;Vardopoulos, 2019), and retail (Lesneski, 2011;Roberts and Carter, 2020).…”

“…It could be suggested that adaptive reuse is an economic solution during periods of low market demand, to help reduce building surplus and transition buildings out of low-demand uses to markets of higher demand. Master planning, or curation of several land uses through adaptive reuse connects single building adaptive reuse to wider reactivation of an underutilized area or shrinking urban center to aid local employment opportunities (Giuliani et al, 2018); it creates tourism visitation (Camocini and Nosova, 2017;Bottero et al, 2019;De Silva et al, 2019;Vizzarri et al, 2020), provides improved health or education services through efficient reuse of public buildings (Juan et al, 2016), better utilizes underused buildings in developing countries (De Silva et al, 2019), develops urban resilience through boosting residential populations (Yap, 2013;Hamida et al, 2020), conserves religious landmarks in post-secular cities (Lynch, 2016), reunite communities through the reinterpretation of buildings' old meanings (Camocini and Nosova, 2017), can aid Transit Orientated Development growth (Riggs and Chamberlain, 2018), and can help transform whole areas into liveable environments (Petković-Grozdanovića et al, 2016;Misirlisoy, 2020). This can even include downtown areas that have vacant buildings being "held" until land values increase (Riggs and Chamberlain, 2018).…”

“…Decisions to mitigate the risk of obsolescence can be taken throughout a building's lifecycle, not just at the end of its useful life (Hamida et al, 2020). Models exist to examine adaptive reuse intervention timing, such as Langston et al (2013) Adaptive Reuse Potential ARP model (Yung et al, 2014b) and AdaptSTAR model to guide future adaptability at the initial stages of design for new construction (Conejos et al, 2016).…”

AEC/FM performance in adaptive reuse projects: investigation of challenges and development of practical guidelines

“…In this context, there are key other parties who are involved in the majority of the technical and managerial aspects of adaptive reuse projects. These parties are mainly actors of the architecture, engineering, construction and facilities management (AEC/FM) industries (Hamida et al , 2022). Several challenges may impact upon the performance of the AEC/FM in adaptive reuse projects (Hamida and Hassanain, 2022b).…”