What do you do if you're an architect struggling to preserve historical buildings?

the movement of adaptive reuse of historic buildings is strong and growing! if you are new to the market i'd suggest joining any local organizations that focus on historic preservation and or adaptive reuse of older buildings a great example would be in Cleveland Ohio... @cleveland restoration society and of course get involved with the AIA, as they recognize the value of adaptive reuse as well, offering seminars and resources you will find useful

Research and educate yourself on the historical significance of the building. This includes understanding its architecture, the period it was built in, any historical events associated with it, and its cultural importance. This knowledge can guide your preservation efforts to ensure they are sensitive to the building's history.

Time gives a patina of value to anything that is worth regarding. The value is added by the layers of detail. Akin to writing an enticing short story, the more layers of detail the more we learn about the depth of the studied object's value as well as the nature of its authors may it be societal or particular. This is an obvious pre-requisite to doing Historic Preservation Projects. Hence, here it's also its value, and this value is exponential. Things that don't merit discovery easily pass on into a pile of rubble, yet upon studying the details of a structure, the more details the deeper the depth and the significance of an object. Ultimately, its significance becomes so grave it's generative illuminating past and informing the future.

If you're an architect struggling to preserve historical buildings, consider embracing adaptive reuse, which involves finding innovative ways to repurpose these structures while maintaining their original character. This approach allows you to preserve the building's essence while making it functional and relevant for modern times, such as converting an old factory into a trendy boutique hotel or transforming a historic school into a vibrant community center. By adopting adaptive reuse, you'll strike a balance between preservation and progress, ensuring that historical buildings continue to thrive for generations to come.

Conduct a thorough assessment of the building's current condition. This involves examining the structure for any damage or areas that may need repair or reinforcement. Understanding the extent of wear and tear can help you make informed decisions about what needs to be preserved, restored, or possibly replaced.

"Know thy building!" A thorough condition assessment is the foundation of preservation, helping you pinpoint vulnerabilities and prioritize repairs to prevent further damage.

Assessing a building starts with its soundness i.e. its structural integrity. Will I be safe inspecting inside? Secondly, preparing an informed checklist is important to manage time and focus on what is needed during inspection. Areas of interest may be, facades, basements, fences, etc. After these precautions have been made the United States' Department of the Interior through the National Parks Service issued the "Historic American Building Survey Guide to Field Documentation" first in 1933. Today, it's still a very didactic resource. "Structural analysis of Historic Buildings" by J. Stanley Raburn is source that can provide deeper understanding.

Familiarize yourself with the legal protections and restrictions that apply to historical buildings in your area. This may include local, state, or national heritage preservation laws. Knowing the legal framework can help you navigate the process of preservation and ensure that your plans are compliant with regulations.

Historic Preservation is a field that is most affected by local ordinance. They may differ greatly from one are to the adjacent ones in spite of National Standards. on this note, being attentive and approaching the Authorities Having Jurisdiction for assistance and feedback is the best way to avoid hindrances. These offices are often greatly understaffed, so the need to address them timely is of the most importance. overall, these offices are often also staffed with preservation professionals so that as long as the aim is to preserve the build environment, they can be seen as a strong ally. Understanding of precedents and existing local ordinances may ease the needed communication with these professionals.

In my opinion, understanding the legal framework is crucial in historical preservation, as it provides a clear roadmap for restoration efforts and ensures compliance with regulations, while collaboration with authorities and advocacy groups offers invaluable guidance and support.

Involve the community in your preservation efforts. Engaging with local residents, historical societies, and other stakeholders can provide valuable insights and garner support for your project. Community involvement can also help raise awareness about the importance of preserving historical buildings and can lead to collaborative solutions.

Preserving the built environment is not the authorship of an individual professional, especially not of an architectural one. Meaningful, preservation projects happen because there is a need, yet that need is not created by a person, it's created by a community. Things meaningful to individuals are private property, whether they are placed to the service of the community or not! Meaningful Historic Preservation projects respond to the need from a community to keep something that defines that community and that needs permanence to continue informing it. There is no historic preservation, of real value intrinsically or not, unless it's community driven. Otherwise, for all that is worth, parking lots are also very much needed.

Even if the placement of this topic on this article is 4th in order, its importance is first. Given that this is a n a-priori requisite for the development of historic projects. What is the difference between a parking lot and a church from the 16th century? Generations of people having seen it and experience it. That is all. IF the community is involved enough and an agreement can be reached that the structure is meaningful enough to inform said society's past and future, there is a historic preservation project. If there is no community engagement project, there is a special interest project, a private owner's self-interest project, and/or a blight resolution project. Not a Historic preservation problem.

Nothing better than having the support of the people. Use the tools at your disposal. Photography, videos, infographics to achieve a presence on social networks of the building you want to protect. You must help people understand the historical and architectural value to achieve viral reach in your community.

The USA Department of the Interior standards clearly states that an addition to a historic structure should be made in such a way that its distinction is clearly, if not strikingly, visible. Thus, the addition itself becomes a matter of architectural design. The subtleties and nuances by which an intervention is made, i.e. preservation, conservation, and restoration, becomes the matter to the historic preservation professional study. This study relies on the execution of diverse stockholders' points of view as well as diverse assessment of technical methods. A discernment of these and other concerns then becomes the nature of the need for this field. Then, it becomes a matter of scientific and technical approach to a specific project.

Because a Historic Preservation project is community driven. The nature by which the said community understand s and utilizes its particular asset becomes the means by which funding can be attained. One aspect of this funding may include considerations for the project's posthumous use. In addition, public and public/private partnerships can be penned having understood the nature of the project by means of its need being originated from the community. A combination of community driven funding, and quest for resources in the public and private sectors are some of the tools needed. Last, international organizations and non-profits may provide funding.

As an architect, I had the privilege of reconstructing a historic hotel in Kyiv, Ukraine. The project was a challenging yet rewarding experience that tested my skills, patience, and dedication to preserving the past while embracing the future. This project taught me the importance of balancing preservation with innovation, and I'm proud to have been a part of it.