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#2

Stone Observatory Tower Converted To A Home

Final score:

317points

POST

Candace Fitzpatrick 3 years ago

I’d love to see the inside. This looks so cool

100points

#3

The Building Used For The Swimming Events At The 2008 Summer Olympics In Beijing Was Transformed Into This Dope-Looking Waterpark

Final score:

315points

POST

Marciano Junior 3 years ago

Amazing

46points

When we think of architecture, we start picturing an entire complex process that gets to make a building from zero. But very often, architects work with what they’re already given, whether it’s defunct objects or abandoned buildings, and they have to work their way around them to give these ghosts an entirely new meaning and purpose.

Repurposed buildings also have power to revitalize communities. It often happens when industrial structures like old factories are remodeled into community centers—sites of leisure.

#4

In Germany There Is Waterpark Called Tropical Islands. It's A Literal Tropical Island Built Inside An Old Blimp Hangar

Final score:

279points

POST

TheGr81sComing 3 years ago

they must be very strict about the no smoking rule

43points

#5

Gas Station Greenhouse

Final score:

265points

POST

Mz Phit 3 years ago

Eco-fuel!

32points

#6

My Gym Used To Be Part Of An Asylum Complex. The Pool Used To Be A Church And The Confession Booths Are Now A Sauna

Final score:

249points

POST

Marie Stanford 3 years ago

Looks like a Roman bath

68points

According to Kaelan Burkett, an author at Architizer, “repurposed buildings are not simply reincarnations of their former selves; an arts center does not have the same relationship to a community as a factory.”

“But these projects do not act as replacements or departures from what preceded them, either. When architecture is successfully repurposed, it does not hide its history, but instead becomes a relic, projecting its identity into a new age, and embodying the contradictory qualities of tradition and innovation, of preservation and progress.”

#7

Vienna Gasometers: Gas Storage Tanks First Built In 1896 And Converted Into Mixed-Use Developments Between 1995 And 2001

Final score:

236points

POST

Maroon 3 years ago

We've got concerts there now :D

36points

#8

Niccolò Paganini Auditorium, Parma, Italy, An Abandoned Sugar Factory Converted Into A Concert Hall By Renzo Piano In 1996

Final score:

219points

POST

Katarina Budimir 3 years ago

That's great!

20points

#9

This Abandoned Church Was Purchased By Skaters And Renovated Into A Dream Park

Final score:

215points

POST

Amy Bindokas 3 years ago

That is a very beautiful skate park.

32points

Kaelan also claims that repurposing architecture is not a new concept. For example, “The Hagia Sophia has been rebuilt, redesigned and redecorated many times in its lives as a church, mosque and museum. Similarly, the Kremlin has housed many regimes since its 14th-century construction, and undergone a corresponding evolution of forms.” In such cases, the changing roles of architecture often reflect or enforce political ideologies and claims to power.

#10

My New Apartment Still Has The Original Molding From When It Was A Hotel Ballroom In 1923

Final score:

212points

POST

Lara Verne 3 years ago

Nice

16points

#11

Dublin: An 11th Century Viking Well And Stone Under A Local Shop

Final score:

203points

POST

Aunt Messy 3 years ago

They've done similar things in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. Many of the shops built into the city and cathedral walls have sections of glass floor that contain tombs, building foundations, cellars, and wells.

7points

#12

Stamba Hotel, Tbilisi, Georgia, Designed In 2018 By Adjara Group And Located In An Old Printing House

Final score:

203points

POST

RGNix 3 years ago

This needs to be higher

13points

#13

These Two UK Phone Booths Have Been Repurposed

Final score:

201points

POST

Joey Marlin 3 years ago

I've seen a few of these used for defibrillators, have them in my village.

35points

#14

The Hospital I Work For Was Originally Designed To Be A Hotel

Final score:

198points

POST

engineer_nope.avi 3 years ago

Hotel....for patients!!!!

38points

#15

My House Turned 101 Today (Originally A 1920’s Corner Grocery)

Final score:

198points

POST

CrunChewy McSandybutt 3 years ago

I wonder how many times they had someone banging on the window asking if they are open?

44points

#16

My Town’s Library Is Under Construction, So They’re Using An Old Grocery Store As The Temporary Library

Final score:

188points

POST

BetterBitterButter 3 years ago

For those hungry for books

59points

#17

This Defunct Subway Entrance Is A Working Subway Entrance

Final score:

178points

POST

Dave P 3 years ago

still is an entrance into the real subway, see those stairs on the side, those go down an extra level. This is a "Commercial Cut Out" which is quote common in the NYC subway system and were designed that way to use the extra space are retail. THere are steps to the left and right (as you can see on the right here) that go down to the subway system. Sorry, this is someone misleading or ignorant.

42points

#18

A Former Grain Silo In Oslo, Now Converted To Student Housing

Final score:

177points

POST

Auntriarch 3 years ago

Brain silo

95points

#19

The Grand Concourse Built In 1898. Once Train Station Is Now A Restaurant In Pittsburgh, PA

Final score:

172points

POST

Candace Fitzpatrick 3 years ago

Train stations were built so beautifully

58points

#20

This McDonald's In New Zealand Has A Decommissioned Plane You Can Dine In

Final score:

158points

POST

Robert T 3 years ago

A McDonalds-Douglas?

4points

#21

A Ship's Bridge That Has Been Removed And Converted Into A House

Final score:

133points

POST

Johnny Rodriguez 3 years ago

With the ship horn as the door bell.

22points

#22

Regional Coffee Chain Buys Gas Station, Uses Car Wash As Drive Through

Final score:

132points

POST

third molar 3 years ago

Caribou has better coffee than the mermaid brand!

25points

#23

Old Church Turned Into A 24/7 Pancake Restaurant

Final score:

132points

POST

Candace Fitzpatrick 3 years ago

This reminds me of the Old Spaghetti Factory

21points

#24

Old Bank Was Transformed Into A Hotel, They Kept The Vault As A Meeting Room

Final score:

130points

POST

CindyLouWho1209 3 years ago

Very cool! You can't come out until you all reach a consensus. (Swings the vault door shut.)

37points

#25

This Hotel Is An Old Prison

Final score:

127points

POST

Mz Phit 3 years ago

You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave

131points

#26

In The UK, Redundant Telephone Boxes Are Being Repurposed As Public Defibrillators

Final score:

119points

POST

H Edwards 3 years ago

It's nice that they are repurposing a few so that they don't all disappear completely.

8points

#27

My Girlfriend’s Office Used To Be A Bowling Alley. The Original Lanes Are Still There

Final score:

117points

POST

Unwelcomed Guest 3 years ago

What a hassle it must to have to change your shoes every time you go to work

49points

#28

This Hotel Is Built Out Of Train Cars

Final score:

116points

POST

Andrew Gibb 3 years ago

they went off the rails with this design

38points

#29

The Old Don Jail (1864) In Toronto Converted Into Offices For The Newly Built Hospital Beside It In 2013

Final score:

115points

POST

Mitch Lord 3 years ago

I bailed someone out of that jail once in 2010. Good times.

23points

#30

Old Silo In Söderköping, Sweden, Repurposed As Housing

Final score:

115points

POST

An Co 3 years ago

I hate the penthouse. What idiot decided: "We have this beautiful round double towers, we should plop an ugly rectangle on top just so people will know it's a housing."

0points

#31

McDonald's In The Art Deco Former "United Kingdom Hotel", Clifton Hill, Melbourne, Australia

Final score:

109points

POST

ArchiBookworm 3 years ago

This isn't sad. If the building can't be repurposed into something commercially viable, it gets demolished and we lose that historic building. This is how preservation works, its how we save historic fabric.

37points

#32

These Apartments Used To Be A YMCA

Final score:

103points

POST

Raven Sheridan 3 years ago

Haunted by the ghosts of a construction worker, soldier, police officer, cowboy, biker and native American Indian.

103points

#33

Old Church Converted Into A Gym

Final score:

100points

POST

V 2000 3 years ago

korean-sta...152050.png

15points

#34

A Smartphone Repair Office Inside A Telephone Box North Of Holborn Station

Final score:

94points

POST

Miriam L 3 years ago

Looks... Compact. I would not want to be the person working inside that booth all day

22points

#35

Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre: A Former Commodities Exchange With A 750-Seat Theatre 'Pod' Tucked Inside. The Theatre Opened In 1976

Final score:

93points

POST

Seán Baron 3 years ago

I've been there many times. When the IRA bomb went off in 1996, this was nearly destroyed.

7points

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#36

Wynnewood Barns, Once A Streetcar Barn Is Now A Community Centre/Artspace/Event Hall With Affordable Housing For Artists As Well

The dark grey lines are where the streetcar tracks used to be.

sledgehammer_77 Report

Final score:

42points

POST

Mitch Lord 3 years ago

It's Wychwood Barns

3points

#37

This Covid-19 Testing Station In Calgary Is Inside An Old Rona Store

Final score:

41points

POST

Raven Sheridan 3 years ago

The irony is too good!

32points

#38

Mills In Buffalo From Industrial Revolution Protected From Full Demolition And Converted Into Art/Public Entertainment Space

Final score:

40points

POST

Samantha PandaNotBored 3 years ago

Looks depressing

9points

#39

Another Historic Tesco: The Perivale Store Is In The Grade II* Hoover Building, A 1933 Art Deco Masterpiece

Final score:

40points

POST

Unwelcomed Guest 3 years ago

I used to drive past this all the time and thought is was an impressive building that just needed some TLC. Tesco was not the TLC I had in mind

14points

#40

Good Morning From My New Neighborhood’s Trader Joe’s

Final score:

39points

POST

Kristina 3 years ago

That's been around for years.

0points

#41

This Game Store Is A Converted Bank

Final score:

38points

POST

engineer_nope.avi 3 years ago

The most coverted games: NWC 1990, Polybius, Poop Slingers, etc. are stored in there.

5points

#42

Former Woolworths, Now A Walgreens. It Feels Like A Happy Accident That The Historic "W" Letter Still Works For The Building

Final score:

37points

POST

ArchiBookworm 3 years ago

If this building is protected - the W actually can't be removed, it would be considered a primary feature of the building and is therefore itself protected.

9points

#43

Carpet With Tracks In A Hotel In An Old Train Station

Final score:

37points

POST

Glynna Bowood 3 years ago

Really nice reminder of the trains!

5points

#44

This Parking Garage Was Once A Theater

Final score:

32points

POST

Mz Phit 3 years ago

Ok, this one makes me sad... what a gorgeous space for theater! Oh well At least it wasn't demolished to make a modern car park

46points

#45

Brooklyn Army Terminal: Was A Rail Freight Yard, Now Individual Office Spaces

Final score:

32points

POST

Kenneth Reid 3 years ago

It's not as gloomy as you would think, I worked here for a little while and this part is not really visible if you're in the main warehouse. This is like a chase between two separate buildings.

14points

#46

This Hotel's Breakfast Lounge Is Inside An Old Bank Vault

Final score:

32points

POST

LAWLAWLAW 3 years ago

The office I work in was originally a bank built in 1865 we still have the old vault etc we also have a f**k ton of draughts in the winter noisy leaky pipes dodgy electrics (probably still the original wires) no fire exit etc and as it's a grade 2 listed building it's a major pain to have any work done, so yeah working in a really old repurposed building isn't always pretty and fun

10points

#47

Old Bank Turned Into McDonald's In Kristiansand, Norway

Final score:

31points

POST

Amy Bindokas 3 years ago

Ooo fancy!!

3points

#48

The 1929 Tammany Hall Building. Once The Headquarters Of NYC’s Most Notorious Political Machine, It Has Been Converted Into Offices With A Modern Glass Addition

Final score:

30points

POST

Emma Byrne 3 years ago

The literal glass ceiling

7points

#49

While The Library Is Under Construction, An Old Grocery Store Is Being Used As A Temporary Library

Final score:

30points

POST

The Dave 3 years ago

Department of Redundancy Department calling!

7points

#50

1883 Opera House Now A Market And Bakery In Florence, Kansas

Final score:

30points

POST

Unwelcomed Guest 3 years ago

I’m from Sydney and this is not how an Opera House is supposed to look

-3points

#51

This Fast Food Drive Thru Used To Be A Car Wash

Final score:

30points

POST

#52

Former Movie Theatre, Now A Library

Final score:

29points

POST

Dave P 3 years ago

big improvement

6points

#53

This Old Bowling Alley Was Turned Into A Thrift Store In Canton, OH

Final score:

25points

POST

Toni Alabakovski 3 years ago

I have lived in Stark County, OH my whole life and I didn’t know about this but I have an idea of where it is and it’s probably very much needed there.

1point

#54

This School In My Town Was Transformed Into Apartments. I Think It's From The 1890s

Final score:

25points

POST

Lori Ballard 3 years ago

My MIL used to live in an apartment that was once a school.

0points

#55

Our Locally Owned Movie Theatre Finally Gave Up And Is Becoming A Sports Bar

Final score:

24points

POST

Alastor the radio demon 3 years ago

HAHAHAHAHA omg the sign😂

11points

#56

This Old Bank Turned To CVS In Manhattan

Final score:

24points

POST

Dre Mosley 3 years ago

Everytime I go to CVS, I regret not going to Walgreens instead.

2points

#57

Armory In West Philadelphia Repurposed As US Squash National Training Center

Final score:

23points

POST

CbusResident 3 years ago

This is near that playground where The Fresh Prince spent most of his days!

5points

#58

Former Hot Topic Now Veterans Museum Denton, TX

Final score:

23points

POST

cassiushumanmother 3 years ago

War is indeed a very hot topic.

0points

#59

Hotel We Are Staying At In Newark Was Once A Bank

Final score:

22points

POST

Johnny Rodriguez 3 years ago

Don't loose the key..

3points

#60

Jail Cell To Brewery Storage Room

Final score:

22points

POST

#61

Old Estate By My House Was Converted To A McDonald's

Final score:

20points

POST

SirPatTheCat 3 years ago

I like the others, but this one is a little...eeh... it seems more like down-cycling than up-cycling haha

6points

#62

Holy Cross Fit

Final score:

19points

POST

Mark Gill 3 years ago

Holy Cross-fit, would actually be a clever name for it

2points

#63

Urban Outfitters That Used To Be A Savings Bank - Northampton, Ma

Final score:

19points

POST

Unwelcomed Guest 3 years ago

The amount of repurposed banks on this list is astounding. Why are so many closed down since in the western world Banks are the greatest recipients of public welfare (ie our tax dollars). My guess is when they take our tax dollars they shut down branches to appear to be responsible however they are just pocketing the profit for themselves

4points

#64

Former McDonald's Is Jumbo's Pub And Grill, On The Boardwalk Of Wildwood New Jersey

Final score:

18points

POST

#65

This Little Caesars That Used To Be An Auto Shop

Final score:

17points

POST

Harry Lui 3 years ago

Land must be cheap.

1point

#66

This Thrift Store Is An Old Bowling Alley

Final score:

16points

POST

#67

The Scottsdale Bank Building In Connellsville, PA. The Building Originally Built For The West Penn Railway And Served As Both A Station And Offices

West Penn operated from 1904 to 1952 and was an electric interurban, or trolley line, that ran in southwestern Pennsylvania.

AGuyFromMaryland Report

Final score:

16points

POST

#68

Former Arby's In Boynton Beach, Florida, Now A Funeral Home

Final score:

16points

POST

Corinna S. 3 years ago

Dead meat inside, either way :D

4points

#69

CVS Pharmacy Used To Be A Theatre, East Los Angeles, CA

Final score:

15points

POST

#70

Not Sure If This Fits. But Pretty Cool. Taco Bell In A Former Bank. Muncie, IN

Final score:

15points

POST

#71

Little Caesar's Pizza In A Former Sonic Drive-In

Final score:

15points

POST

#72

The Disney Store Of Inland Center Is Now A Furniture Store. You Can Still See The Outlines Of The Film Reels Around The Entrance, And Mickey Shapes Etched Onto The Windows

Final score:

14points

POST

Faith Hurst 3 years ago

I haven't been in that mall in a long time, even though I work near it. No idea that Disney Store was gone.

1point

#73

Former Pizza Hut In Albany, Oregon. Now House Of Noodle

Final score:

14points

POST

Tim Wilson 3 years ago

I think there should be a complete article on former Pizza Huts, they have been repurposed all over the country. Kinda cool to see, and somewhat nostalgic at the same time. Reminds me of a time when meals were enjoyed a bit more and not always crowded and rushed.

5points