Ruowen Gao
Architectural Engineering
SHARED LUXURY: Adaptive Reuse of T4 & CJ3 Office Buildings into Collective Self-organized Community Under the Guidance of a Circular Business Model
My Project ‘Shared Luxury’ is a redesign of two structural vacant office buildings located in an office park near the city centre of Leeuwarden, the Netherlands. The revitalization of the area and the local government’s plan for helping asylum seekers and local unemployed youth to re-join civil society come together. The monumental buildings and the site were redesigned with minimal intervention under circular design principles. The idea of sharing is proposed as a pre-condition for a low-impact, high-quality community life.
Pre-fabricated, modularized and flexible components allowing more spatial possibilities were largely used in the new construction. Shared spaces enable social contact and provide a place to learn and work. Smart use of local resources and self-managed food production not only lower environmental impact but also support the community’s long-term independence and stability. Therefore, offering places for interaction and other places that serve as a retreat is, in fact, a necessity, not a luxury.