The thesis mainly focuses on defining and redefining the essence of designated heritage architecture under the framework of the grounded theory. Heritage architecture essence manifests in chosen building’s value, characteristic and potentials, which are the foundation for continuity and change aimed at guaranteeing its future life.3 However, unlike other graduation studio, in which architectural research as the starting point of design, the conclusion from the heritage research serves as a guide book that determines designers’ choice throughout the design circle. The guide book is non-universal that it will be revised through the design process in order to have a better compatibility with the building. From this point of view, the research process of the thesis should be able to be continuously defined and redefined. Compare to other qualitative approaches, in the grounded theory research, “it is assumed that the object of study is not fully explained ‘on the first take’; rather, repeated observation, data collection, and structuring the data into a working explanatory framework are all part of an iterative process that leads to an emergence of a theory.”

This project, part of the Architecture & Heritage graduation studio, is about the transformation of an post-war highschool in Zutphen. The school is transformed from an highschool into a language institute. The building is part of a new masterplan for the neighbourhood Nieuwstad.

The thesis concerns itself with the redesign of harbour heritage in the city of Rotterdam. The historic cotton warehouse of the Katoenveem is transformed using a mainly phenomenological approach to architecture.

The transformation of buildings is one of the main emergent themes in contemporary architecture. This does not only count for monuments, but also
for the existing housing stock. This graduation project deals with the transformation of 4 buildings in Delft, build in the ERA- building system – a non-traditional construction system.
Because of the urban planning the quality of living degrades downwards in the building, simultaneously to the degradation of views. To tackle that problem and to meet current living standards the views get improved through small interventions in and around the buildings. To protect the environment in multiple ways materials and building parts get reused to keep the embodied energy low and achieve direct carbon related savings.

The two main problems of the Intervamflats are comfort and energy consumption. The portiekflats from 1964 are not well insulated, which result in spaces that can not be heated sufficiently and a high-energy consumption. To make these portiekflats comply with current comfort standards and legislation (e.g. Energieakkoord: social housing must have label B on average in 2020) a renovation is needed, which is the binding factor between the state of the art and the architectural & cultural historical values.

Sustainability is one of the biggest topics in the current architectural field. The real meaning of sustainability in the architecture is not restricted to the energy issue but related to the quality of life in rather humanistic discourse. As indicated on the Burra Charter in 2013, place that coexists with the cultural importance upgrades the people’s life by virtue of the diversity of the community. Also, it insists the importance of conservation grounded on the principle of intergenerational equity. This assertion calls attention to the renovation project due to the needs of exploration in the existing legacy. The sustainable design and research focused on the reusability of visible and invisible values will contribute to the urban environment so that the community work actively as a living organism. Therefore, this research will be relevant to any other heritage project because it deals mainly with the conflicting values on the boundary between the cultural value and the people’s need to revive the value of the past to the current society. Of course, the design approach to the Nemavo-Airey system will especially be applicable to the other building systems in the existing building stocks from the similar era in the Netherland. However, the design process also will serve as a momentum to transform the value left at the heritage building to a new possibility so that the social properties can expand its lifespan.