MSc Architecture and Adaptive Reuse

MA Architecture and Adaptive Reuse is a programme about existing buildings, situations and places, and how over time these structures and locations can be encouraged to evolve, sustain new uses, and accommodate new users. It allows you to investigate strategies for adaptive reuse - strategies that are not applied as a reaction to current conditions, but in anticipation of future changes.

Adaptation is now at the forefront of architectural practice; two of the most pressing challenges in the 21st century are climate change and urbanisation. To reuse an existing building is an inherently sustainable action. Given that already more than half of the global population live in urban environments, and by 2050, it is projected that over 70% of the world population will live in cities, all societies need to be able to accommodate growth while at the same time, reducing consumption. The existing building stock needs to become both more efficient and more resilient. 

You will investigate the three main tenets of sustainable reuse - environmental, societal, and economic – while also exploring inhabitation, heritage, culture, history, memory, community, and the influence these factors have on remodelling activities. Through looking at the impact that context and the environment have upon projects, you will develop an understanding of some of the technical issues including conservation, construction, environmental control, and materials in order to make creative and appropriate proposals for new users of buildings. You will also examine specific examples of adaptive reuse, theories of reuse and explore strategies for the conservation and adaptation of the existing environment, while also looking at the influence that art has upon architecture.

The course is therefore ideal preparation for careers in both professional and/or academic roles associated with sustainable urban, architectural and interior design, and within the heritage industry. Some examples of destinations that graduates on this programme have entered include: architectural and interior practice, conservation architecture, academia, and to progress into doctoral study.

Students benefit from the specialist workshops at Manchester School of Art and the University of Manchester to explore materiality, fabrication, and realisation of their ideas.

The programme is part of the Manchester School of Architecture, an internationally recognised leader in architectural education, with an outstanding employer reputation.