Refitting Vacancy for the Creative Industry

Abstract

The high vacancy rate in the office building market in the Netherlands is mainly explained by an overproduction of office space. The demand is expected to decrease further due to aging of the population, a changing economy and the decreasing need for space. A possible new end-user is the creative industry. The different working standards of this industry lead to different use of office space than the large-scale offices of the production economy. Adaptive reuse can create a solution for the need for new accommodations in this segment of the office market. In this research, a strategy has been developed that explains which characteristics a vacant office building must meet to be reused for the creative industry, which facilities it must offer and how tenants should be selected and managed. The possibilities have been researched by a detailed literature research, three in-depth case studies with successful redevelopments for the creative industry in Eindhoven, Rotterdam and Amsterdam and interviews with several experts in practice.