Embracing adaptive re-use of buildings: the case of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Because of land scarcity, the ever-increasing demand for new constructions has caused a grave crisis in the construction industry. This has led to the inevitable demolition of the existing building stock. In many cities, there are malfunctioning or abandoned ancient buildings situated mostly in commercially significant locations. These buildings which narrate the evolution of their cities have become important, either for historical reasons or because of their cultural heritage. For any country, its existing building stock will be of significant economic, physical and socio-cultural value. Adaptive Re-use of Buildings (ARB) is the best option available to make optimum use of the existing stock. Developing countries still have not appropriately embraced this concept as in developed countries. Thus, the objectives of this research were to identify the key parameters, benefits, barriers and challenges related to ARB in Sri Lanka. A qualitative research approach was adopted to achieve this aim by conducting expert interviews on five case studies and semi-structured interviews involving 15 local expert professionals already practicing ARB to validate the expert interview findings. Content analysis was used to analyze the findings. Physical, social and economic considerations, building codes, regulations, lack of awareness on adaptive re-use opportunities and the scarcity of material and skilled tradesmen were identified to be the most frequently encountered barriers among which were further categorized under five major groups.