The cool thing about architecture is that what you see isn’t always what you get. That bank over there? It’s actually a coffee shop. That old cement factory? Now it’s full of office workers. And those swimmers and skaters heading to those churches over there aren’t really going to mass. Welcome to the wonderful world of adaptive reuse!

Our team at Bored Panda has collected some of the most creative and impressive photos of buildings being repurposed for something entirely different. It’s probably not something the original architects intended, but it sure works. Scroll down for some awesome pics and a huge dose of inspiration.

We wanted to learn more about the advantages of repurposing buildings, so we reached out to designer Danish Kurani, the founder of the design firm 'Kurani.' He was kind enough to shed some light on the topic and even shared some examples of his work focusing on adaptive reuse.