Adaptability, in contemporary architecture, is defined as the capacity of a building to effectively accommodate the evolving demands of its context, thus maximizing its value through life. On the other hand, there is the concept of cultural significance, which addresses the attributes and values of cultural heritage buildings and justifies their designated status.
The negative reputation and/or lack of recognition received by these typologies of housing have an impact on the protection of these buildings today. Although parts of the urban design of Amsterdam Nieuw-West have received recognition of significance, unfortunately, this is not the case for all the architecture of the buildings, of which many have been demolished or transformed without consideration of their potential cultural significance. Potential obsolescence, changed demographics, and rapidly growing demands for energy efficiency, as well as new living standards, all threaten these buildings with demolition or modification before their historic or artistic attributes can even be recognized. Many of the issues stated above continue to be common today, showing a lack of advancement towards adaptable post-war housing.
This research report tries to integrate research methods on attributes with research methods on adaptability. This kind of approach could diversify concepts and reveal complementary characteristics regarding the significance of post-war housing blocks by linking them to adaptability.
The framework used in this research is divided into two distinct parts. Firstly, the classification of building layers and elements; subsequent internal and external connections and attributes; and secondly, the interpretation of all the aforementioned in a dependency structure matrix, revealing relationships, areas of synergy, and associated attributes.
By fusing these different methods, an integrated approach was developed to study post-war housing blocks and reveal the connections between significance and adaptability. To find areas of synergy between these two domains in order to contribute to the development of architecture that genuinely uses change for greater significance.

Urban vitality is a concept reflecting the synergistic interplay of complex conditions that create a city's liveliness and significantly influence its livability. Distributing central area density becomes important in cities like Amsterdam, which face challenges such as housing shortages and overtourism in central areas. Consequently, enhancing the livability of areas outside the city center is essential. Livability also contributes to conserving the historic urban landscape and affects the city's sustainability. This study focuses on urban vitality as a means to enhance livability.

The primary objective of this research is to identify the conditions that affect the urban vitality of a neighborhood center and explore how these conditions can be applied to redesign. The case study focuses on Plein ‘40-‘45, a historic square and neighborhood center located in Amsterdam Nieuw-West. Enhancing the urban vitality of this square is expected to improve this area's livability, alleviate Amsterdam’s urban problems, and positively impact the conservation of the historic urban landscape.

As a methodology for this research, a comparative case study was conducted to examine how to improve the use composition of this square. The comparative case is Spui, located in Amsterdam Centrum, a touristic place and already a lively square, where a comparison of the diversity and density of uses was made. In particular, the observation method was used to examine the relationship between uses and pedestrian activities. This method is particularly useful for identifying public life characteristics in a relatively small urban area like a square.

Meanwhile, the Amsterdam Nieuw-West, also known as the Western Garden Cities, has been recognized by The Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands for its urban and green environment and structure as having historic significance. Therefore, a literature review was conducted to study how the square redesign should improve the green environment while respecting the urban and green structure.

The conclusion of this study shows that Plein ‘40-‘45 is primarily focused on residents in terms of use. For this square and neighborhood center to develop into an urban center, it needs to offer diverse and attractive uses for visitors and tourists. Additionally, improving the diversity and density of the green environment and providing green connections in the area are important from the perspectives of urban and green structures.

This master’s thesis was written as part of the graduation studio “Heritage & Architecture: Adapting 20th Century Heritage: Resourceful Housing” at Delft University of Technology. The cultural significance of buildings is increasingly recognized, with heritage structures offering glimpses into the past. Building preservation is evolving from simple protection to an integral part of sustainable urban growth, with adaptive reuse being a more effective approach.

In the Netherlands, schools are rapidly disappearing, primarily due to demolition driven by the new “Frisse Scholen” initiative by the RVO. Additionally, the declining number of students in both primary and secondary schools is causing further issues. According to Rijksoverheid (2023), merging two or more schools is a proposed solution to address the decrease in student numbers. This process leaves one or more school buildings vacant, presenting an opportunity for adaptive reuse projects.
Furthermore, the Netherlands is currently facing a housing shortage, with almost 400,000 dwellings needed. The current housing crisis demands more typologies and space for new homes. By combining the preservation of (post-war) school buildings with the need for housing, adaptive reuse strategies can transform heritage school buildings into residential spaces. Research on the intersection of these issues and the transformation of school buildings is still limited.

This thesis employs a mixed-method approach. A general comparative case study was conducted using the four approaches to building transformation by Hans Ibelings and Diederendirrix (2018). This framework was enhanced with a grid and spectrum system to classify and analyze the research cases. Further analysis utilized the "black/yellow/red" method to illustrate building adaptations. The value framework by Pereira Roders (2007) guided the identification of primary values. The research classified all cases as having either a repurpose or regenerate approach. Overviews of interventions were created, highlighting added and removed materials for one case.

Translating research into design, the Rendorpschool was studied to assess the impact on building fabric and environment of various typologies. Scenarios were evaluated based on three aspects: living quality, cultural value, and resourcefulness. The findings indicated that variants with better living quality had slightly less added volume, thus requiring fewer resources.

This thesis holds relevance for other designers. The school building intervention overviews provide a concise, visual summary of all interventions and can serve as a starting point for evaluating the comparative qualities of various interventions. It ensures that data for the three key features—interior building fabric, exterior building fabric, and function—is available. This research contributes not only to the societal impact of strategies to reuse vacant buildings but also offers professionals a tool for assessing interventions in school transformations into housing. The conclusions from the design phase can help apply results to other school transformations, understanding the impact of decisions on building volume and environmental impact, and aiding in the selection of appropriate typologies for their projects.

This research looks at Gele Scheikunde - a TU Delft chemistry department building constructed in 1945. The complex served for educational purposes until 2012 and then was sold by TU for redevelopment.
The ambition of the city of Delft is to increase the housing stock, furthermore, the number of TU campus users has grown significantly in recent years. This brings up a dilemma between densification and quality of life. For these reasons, abandoned or non-used buildings like TU faculty building Gele Scheikunde is envisioned for housing purpose. According to the official regulations and the Commission for Environmental Impact Assessment (MER), there is great potential in this university area to develop an innovative sustainable neighbourhood. Thus, the question that arises is: How to redevelop the former campus buildings?
The goal is to research on how to cope with abandoned campus buildings by including social and ecological values into the transformation and re-adaption design. The approach for the research was to involve stakeholders in the co-creation process. This co-creation process was facilitated through the Minecraft workshop. During the workshop, not only experts (e.g. architects, designers, planners) but also external parties (e.g. neighbours, users, ecologists), decided over the built environment. However, a co-creation approach is not limited to one method. There are various ways to involve stakeholders: interviews, surveys, questionnaires and workshops, with or without heritage games. For this research, a combination of the above was chosen: interviews, surveys and a gaming workshop with Minecraft.
This approach provided information on what is valued in the case study, why it is valued, what should be kept and what can be demolished. Besides all stakeholders shared their opinion on what would be the best “new program”.

Secularisation is leading to an increasing amount of obsolete churches in the Netherlands. There is a need for decision making on which churches to preserve and how to deal with the preserved churches. Adaptively reusing these buildings can safeguard them from demolition. Adaptively reusing churches is a matter of making concessions. Every stakeholder has its interest. These interests are interrelated, and it is almost impossible to meet every stakeholders’ goal to the maximum. Therefore, one should strive to find the optimal solution. Finding this optimal balance is the task of the decision maker. Theory shows that aligning the following four goals can help: physical, functional, financial and organisational goals. These are based on the CREM perspectives. This is tested by interviewing several decisionmakers and by comparing this qualitative data and the additional literature research with the theory. The aim is to strengthen the position of the decision maker with this new information and tools. Equally important as finding the optimal solution, is making supported decisions. The use of the DAS-frame guides this. Comparing the four steps derived from the literature with the steps decision makers take leads to the findings. This information is derived from interviews. A step-by-step plan for future decision makers helps making substantiated decisions, and a database and reference booklet, compiled in this thesis, help broadening the solution framework for adaptively reusing churches. This step-by-step plan is compiled based on the DAS-frame and the information for the interviews. Tips from finding the optimal solution merge into this step-by-step plan. The step-by-step plan, database and reference booklet form a toolbox to support private and public decision makers in fulfilling their task.

When looking at a country like Oman that is abundant in its historical and cultural heritage, it is apparent that these aspects have a huge role in shaping this country’s identity, and remains to this day engraved in different parts of its built environment. However, the values and opportunities of cultural heritage are increasingly overlooked in urban developments, due to the misconception that it might not fit in the mold or vision that developers are creating with trends of “smart, high-tech, innovative cities”. This strongly applies to countries in the Middle-East as they attempt to replicate existing successful developments, while disregarding the context of the area, culture, and identity that distinguishes them and makes them unique, as a result; this has led to failed schemes and unavoidable lack of identity in these projects. Integrating certain aspects of cultural heritage in urban developments could be of high value to a city, creating several opportunities that cultivate the success of future developments. In order to accomplish a successfully integrated project that combines the area “Port” and city, old with the new, past and future, it is important for stakeholders; from both public and private sectors are involved in the decision making process, taking cultural heritage into consideration. Subsequently, the notion of integrating cultural heritage in sustainable developments arises, and by using the contributions of cultural heritage towards influencing the stakeholder’s decision making process; taking into account the necessity of incorporating cultural heritage into their visions. However, with upcoming future developments in Oman, it becomes clear that there are certain challenges that come with forming strategies, and implementing them from both private and public sectors perspectives that remains challenging due to poor collaboration. This research aims to fill in the gap in literature on a specific part of culture integration; which is cultural heritage and its value in sustainable waterfront regenerations. Through identifying the contributions that cultural heritage provide for sustainable waterfront developments, and what opportunities it could create for the society, economy and tourism development of the city, the process of implementation and integration can then be steered by integrating the right management tools in regards to conservation of heritage.