Overview

Public buildings from the 1960s and 70s are a common feature of many cityscapes around the world. Today, they no longer meet the 21st century’s technical, energy and aesthetic requirements, and are frequently demolished and replaced with new buildings. However, they have great potential for reducing emissions in the construction sector, thereby contributing to climate change mitigation. Thanks to their flexible floor plans, buildings from the 1960s and 70s – the modernist period – can be adapted to today’s requirements, often with additional benefits for cities and their inhabitants. It is high time we preserved these buildings, and used the grey energy embodied within their concrete and steel in a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable way.

This paradigm shift was the focus of the ‘2nd Hands on Public Buildings’ discussion event held on 24-27 September 2024, hosted by Connective Cities, in cooperation with the Berlin Senate Department. Around 30 municipal practitioners from Germany, Kenya, Montenegro, the Palestinian territories, Zambia and Ukraine, came together to discuss approaches to, and challenges inherent in, sustainably repurposing public buildings from the 1960s and 70s, and to develop some project ideas.

Keynotes

Lars Löbner and Moritz Theloe from the Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development, Construction and Housing described how around 220,000 new residential units would be needed in Berlin by 2040. They presented the Berlin Urban Development Plan for Construction, which aims to achieve this goal, and includes a vision for reuse of older buildings. Its focus is on sustainable methods of housing provision, with regard to energy usage, mobility and efficiency. They also took a look at Berlin's post-Second World War history of reusing and adapting public buildings.

Nevena Delibašić from the Design And Planning Department in the city of Nikšić in Montenegro gave a presentation on the renovation of the ‘House of Revolution’. This architecturally striking building complex was begun in 1978, but never completed. Then, in 2021, new plans were developed, and part of the ruined building was refurbished as studios for a TV and radio station, opening in September 2024.

Results

Repurposing existing older buildings pays off from an environmental point of view, because a great deal of grey energy – or, as it was expressed more positively at the event, ‘golden energy’ – is embodied in these buildings. There is, however, insufficient awareness of this, and a need for positive examples to be publicised – such as the renovation of the venue for this dialogue event: the headquarters of the Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development, Construction and Housing, built in the 1950s.

Repurposing and converting existing municipal buildings cannot happen without participation from the population. In particular, future users, neighbours, and civil society must be included in the planning stages. Often, it is civil society that is the driving force behind using a building as a creative space – as was the case with the Haus der Statistik in Berlin.

Local authorities must always take into account aspects such as: preserving architectural heritage; energy efficiency; cost-effectiveness; and the technical constraints on conversion. For example, when deciding whether to demolish or renovate a building, it would be helpful for local authorities to have a tool to hand that would speed up the planning process and ensure transparency.

Repurposing and converting large building complexes requires comprehensive and time-consuming planning and big budgets. It can therefore often make sense to consider interim use, or to only renovate individual parts of a complex as an initial step.

This dialogue event was the first in a series of activities focusing on the use of older public buildings as part of the Connective Cities learning process. An online workshop and delegation visits are planned for the coming months.