Cultural Heritage: A Hybrid Framework for Ranking Adaptive Reuse Strategies

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to illustrate, through a case study, a multilevel decision-making process able to support the decision maker in optimizing investment choices for the efficient allocation of public resources, with specific reference to recovery and adaptation to the reuse of unused historical public heritage. During the evaluation process, two methods in particular were combined according to a multiphase design: (i) a multi-criteria analysis to identify the highest and best use among alternative reuse scenarios and (ii) a discounted cash flow analysis to support verification of the financial feasibility of the investment, in the hypothesis of an enhancement concession in a public–private partnership. Each method was applied in parallel to the evolution of the different design scenarios. The results of the study show that hybrid approaches are a promising line of research in the field of evaluation and urban design, applied to cultural heritage.

New Angles for Adaptive Building Reuse Research

“…Adaptive building reuse was recognized in 2018 as a successful intervention approach under the European year of cultural heritage [9]. Some of the rationale discussed in the literature includes preserving heritage, urban regeneration, energy, pollution and carbon saving, performance upgrades, avoiding construction and demolition waste, economic savings, reduced construction times, added value, circularity principles and increased green space preservation [7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. These benefits are not confined to historical buildings, thus making the case for work to be done to facilitate adaptive reuse of any existing building [9].…”

“…Some of the rationale discussed in the literature includes preserving heritage, urban regeneration, energy, pollution and carbon saving, performance upgrades, avoiding construction and demolition waste, economic savings, reduced construction times, added value, circularity principles and increased green space preservation [7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. These benefits are not confined to historical buildings, thus making the case for work to be done to facilitate adaptive reuse of any existing building [9].…”

“…There are various reasons a building may become obsolete; economic, technological, social and functional obsolescence are identified as key reasons driven by physical elements of the building or changes in the wider environment [7]. Increased adaptive building reuse can promote successful regeneration of an area [9,12] and is identified as an important factor in the adaptive reuse decisions in Hong Kong.…”

“…In Hong Kong, for example, there is a suggestion that government should be providing relevant consulting services for building owners who may be interested in adaptive reuse to encourage reuse of their industrial buildings [12]. The need for a decisionmaking tool to assist policymakers and city planners when prioritizing buildings is echoed in many studies [9,10] suggesting that although decision making has been researched for specific case studies, a satisfactory larger scale version is not currently available. The benefits of adaptive building reuse are seldom identified by sustainability reporting tools, a missed opportunity which would increase the attractiveness of proposals to investors, developers [8,28] and potentially designers alike.…”

The use of an analytic hierarchy process to evaluate the flexibility and adaptability in architecture

“…Practical applications of multicriteria decision analysis can be used to solve problems in a wide range of research fields (Nora et al , 2016; Júnior et al , 2018; Alécio et al , 2021; Gerhardt et al , 2021). In addition to the articles presented in Section 1, the multicriteria decision-making process can support investment choices to the reuse of unused historical public heritage utilizing scenarios and the financial feasibility of the investment (Della Spina, 2021). AHP combining vulnerability analysis and evaluation of frescoes, statues and paintings can provide a complete overview of a Church's structural condition (Sangiorgio et al , 2020).…”