Renovation

Renovations of former industrial spaces are currently very popular. The Ark, by MAD Architects, is more unusual than most and involves installing an eye-catching mixed-use building over a disused cement factory warehouse in Shanghai, China.

The CTBUH has named Quay Quarter Tower, by 3XN Architects, the Best Tall Building Worldwide for 2023. The prestigious authority on skyscrapers hailed the project's clever repurposing of an old high-rise into an eye-catching cantilevering tower.

MVRDV's renovation of Albania's Tirana Pyramid is now finally complete and has officially opened to the public. The building has been transformed from a communist-era brutalist landmark into a scalable technology center focused on young people.

PAU recently completed an ambitious renovation of Brooklyn's 19th century Domino Sugar Refinery. The firm retained the main brick shell of the historic building and inserted an all-new modern and energy efficient glass office building inside.

Austin Maynard Architects is adept at transforming dilapidated homes into attractive modern residences. Its Helvetia project has breathed new life into an old terrace house, adding lots of natural light, an atrium and multiple garden spaces.

It's all well and good creating new buildings that are packed with sustainable design, but it's often even greener to adapt what has already been built. To highlight this, RIBA has launched a new award to celebrate the creative reuse of buildings.

Following the completion of its Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts just a few days ago, Studio Gang has now finished work on its American Museum of Natural History extension, which features an eye-catching sculpted rock-like form.

Studio Gang's highly anticipated Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts project has finally opened to the public, following a painstaking renovation and extension of the aging museum, including an interesting pleated roof that helps reduce its overall energy use.

UNStudio recently completed an extensive renovation of a former bank headquarters in the Netherlands. The firm has vastly improved the aging building's energy efficiency while rearranging its interior layout to be suitable for use as a modern office.

The European Parliament building in Brussels, Belgium, has been deemed inadequate for continued use. Rather than demolition, it will receive a radical renovation that will add sustainability features and greenery, including a rooftop garden.

Almost 40 years after it was decommissioned, London's iconic Battersea Power Station has been restored by WilkinsonEyre. The firm has transformed the huge brick building into a mixed-use development that retains much of its original character.

Project Harbour Club is an interesting new development that involved renovating and extending a 1901 shipping terminal. Most notably, the project transformed three former industry-sized wine silos into novel rooftop homes.