RESTORATIVE RENOVATION

Most of the so-called historic building restorations of today are not, quite simply,  restorations. Look closely and you’ll see that, unless the restoration is being done by a museum, the buildings are being modified to work for today. With a residence, you’ll probably find many elements that did not previously exist in the original building; a bathroom, a kitchen that bears no resemblance to those of yesteryear, a mudroom complete with cubbies, perhaps a breakfast area, or even a family room that’s open to the kitchen. It comes as no surprise that we live in our homes much differently than we did hundreds of years ago. So the so-called “restorations” of today are really better called adaptive reuse, for these buildings are being modified to accommodate new uses for today, with functions and technologies that were not part of the original building’s fabric. Yet, here at Design Associates find that the term “adaptive reuse” tends to lessen the significance of the careful, sympathetic and architecturally respectful renovation work that we do. It just doesn’t tell the full story.

As a response to this, we define most of our renovation projects as “restorative renovation”. Why?  Because we are designing these renovations and additions in a restorative manner, using the period details, mouldings, massings and materials of the original building in any new work, creating the sense that the renovation had always been there.

Visit our portfolio on this website to see many examples of “restorative renovation”.

 

chris@design-associates.com