A Quick Guide and Common Questions About Adaptive Reuse in Commercial Construction
Leave a CommentArchitect and sustainability expert, Carl Elefante, is known for saying, “The greenest building is the one that is already built.” Adaptive reuse construction is often a cost-effective, sustainable choice.
Business and property owners often wonder about how they can use a facility they already own for a better purpose. Or sometimes a client needs to outfit an existing facility for a new tenant. These clients need an adaptive reuse construction project.
Keep reading to learn more about just what that is and we’ll answer a couple of our most commonly asked questions.
Adaptive Reuse in Construction
Contractors design most commercial construction with a distinct purpose in mind. The building’s intended business constrains the overall design. However, circumstances lead many buildings to become abandoned or vacant.
As businesses relocate, grow, disappear, and merge, commercial properties often lie dormant—but they’re not ready for demolition. Instead, think of them as waiting like a puppy at the pound for just the right tenant.
With high-quality renovations, a building can get a new life and decades of use out of an existing building. Adaptive Reuse projects give our clients the chance to do just that.
From historic preservation to integrating into a new structure, renovations, or infrastructure upgrades, we’re here to help knock down a few walls and expand your knowledge of commercial adaptive reuse construction.
Cost-Savings and Sustainability
Repurposing a building gives you options for rebuilding that may not have existed at the time of original construction. A reuse project lets you include new, efficient components, like Butler®’s energy-efficient roofing systems or factory-insulated metal panels.
When your business moves into your new location, your environmentally-conscious choices become money savers: your efficient parts keep your energy bills and maintenance needs low.
What will you have to consider for your adaptive reuse commercial project? That’s a good question.
Common Questions about Adaptive Reuse
Our clients often ask, “Will adaptive reuse of the existing structure save money over new construction?” The cautious answer is, “Yes.” The final determining factors are just how much work the building needs and how much of it can be postponed.
Known as “deferred maintenance,” these will be a short list of issues that can be safely left out of the original project. Safety is still the top concern here, and we won’t cut corners or ignore any codes or requirements.
This is where a contractor’s experience comes into play. With over 80 years of combined experience, our team has a deep knowledge of what is important for a reuse project—what you need to get open for business and what can wait.
We’ll go into the topic in more detail in a future post.
Another common question concerns grandfathered code provisions. Clients often ask if a building that worked safely for years can be grandfathered in under the regulations it was previously compliant under. This is a less formal way to say “lawful prior non-conforming use,” or that the building was previously perfectly suitable and can still be considered so.
As long as the building intended for adaptive reuse is safe, it may not have to be relocated or demolished due to not adhering to the most recent requirements. At MGM General Construction Corporation, we typically work with the International Existing Building Code (IEBC) for these types of projects. The standard new construction code is the International Building Code (IBC).
It’s important to keep in mind that any new construction, additions, or renovations must meet new building codes and can’t piggyback along.
How to Get Started
At MGM General Construction Corporation, we are proud to be a Butler Builder®, providing energy-efficient construction projects to our clients. Our portfolio includes Parkside Commons, an old school repurposed as a building with residential living units and commercial office space.
If you are interested in starting an adaptive reuse project, contact us today!