Real Estate & Housing – Faculty of Architecture – Delft University of Technology20 april 2023 1/31

Peter de JongHilde RemøyWiechert Schenk

Investing in possibilitiesThe feasibility of adaptable office buildings

Real Estate & Housing – Faculty of Architecture – Delft University of Technology

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Index

• Introduction• Adaptable office buildings• The market• Recommendations

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Sustainability14% vacancy

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Objective

The feasibility of anticipating future programmatic change of commercial office buildings:

Legal feasibility

Technical feasibility

Financial feasibility

Commercial feasibility

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The adaptable office building

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Legal feasibility

• Spatial planning act• Building decree

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Technical feasibility

Structure

Measurement

Floor layout

Horizontal and vertical extendibility

(Emergency) Exits

Structure flexibility

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Technical feasibility

SkinDifferent requirements of building physics Windows and balconiesVisual design

Not load bearing, easily demountable, replace or adapt to be decided if transformed

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Services

Installations differ in type

Installations positioned vertically versus horizontally

The installations as well as the shafts are not reusable: no integration with the construction!

Technical feasibility

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How to

Design measures: measurement, layout, positioning of exits have no influence on construction costs

Technical measures: construction typology influences the building costs

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Two building types

Single corridor Central core

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Single corridor

Construction: load bearing outer walls and hollow core beams

Measurement: depth 14.4m, structural grid 1.8m

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Single corridorDesign measures:

Structure

Housing units: gallery entrance

Technical measures:

Horizontal extendibility: Columns in the facade

Vertical extendibility: Up to two floors can be added

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Single corridor

Technical measures• Structure

120 minutes structural strength in case of fire

Construction type: Columns and monolithic post-stressed floors

Preferable construction type

Standard construction type

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Central core

Structure

sturdy core and a structural grid of columns

Measurement

9m. from facade to core

Facade

Not load bearing

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Central core

Design stepsHousing units: entrances

around the coreConstruction: Columns

in the facadeMeasurements: Depth

between 7.2 and 12mTechnical measures

120 minutes structural strength in case of fire

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Financial feasibility

Financial consequences of the adaptable single corridor building: 3% extra of the total investment costs.

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Conclusion ‘the adaptable office’Legal feasibility:

Precondition in the development phase of the office building

Technical feasibilityMulti functional structure, replaceable skin and services.Central core building are already adaptableSingle corridor buildings are not jet adaptable

Financial feasibility3% of the total investment costs.

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Conclusion ‘the adaptable office’

‘You cannot predict or control adaptability. All you can do is make

room for it’ (Brand,1994).

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LocationHousing market Office market

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LocationMixed-use locations, centrally located

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ArgumentsSustainability

Risk management

Future value

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Sustainability

Extension of the lifetime of a buildingThe construction is responsible for 30% of the pollution in a lifespan of

20 years.BREEAM-NL regards adaptability as sustainability enhancing

Sustainability is more than energy saving measures: it must be part of the design concept

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Risk management

The possibility of functional adaptability will decrease the risk of structural vacancy

Documentation of the adaptable possibilities will make transformation more comprehensible

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Future value

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SummaryIt is legally and technically feasible to develop adaptable office buildings…though only the structure seems to be reusableCentral core buildings are easily adaptable, investments

of 3% extra increase the adaptability of the single corridor type

Mix-use locations are most interestingAdaptability carries only marginal costs and are

therefore a commercially interesting investment