| dc.description.abstract | Adaptive reuse is the practice of identifying, acquiring and placing back into service a building
or similar structure for a purpose different than that for which it was originally designed. This act
offers great potential for addressing the spatial expansion needs of healthcare establishments in a
unique and mutually beneficial manner.
Discussion: Newly constructed buildings, whether owned or leased, are expensive, consuming a
significant percentage of funds that otherwise could be directed toward patient care. Such costs
can even prohibit the delivery of services to indigent populations altogether. But through
adaptive reuse, the practice of repurposing existing, abandoned buildings, placing them back into
service in pursuit of new missions, opportunities exist to economize on this front, allowing
Health care providers to acquire operational space at a discount.
Aim; In an effort to shore up related knowledge, this study investigates the process of adaptive
reuse by profiling selected case studies of health facilities in Kampala that embraced adaptive
reuse in their constructional foundation.
A change in use is supposed to be efficient and functionally appropriate for the new use however
most of the health facilities that embraced adaptive reuse are not as functionally successful as
they should be.
The study aimed at first highlighting the required design standards of a health facility, analyzing
the different stages involved in adapting a residential building to a health facility as well as
opportunities and challenges presented in process of change of use, analyzing the challenges that
develop along the way during the facility’s existence and providing remedies to these functional
deficiencies.
Conclusions: The study found out that although adaptive reuse provided design opportunities for
the proposed new use like space for new uses, building fabric and support structure, it provided
design challenges as well, some being external and others coming from the original building
premise before adaptation.
The study found out that the willingness of the proprietor to provide remedies to these design
challenges majorly depended on two scenarios i.e.xiii
Case 1); For entirely owned premises by the proprietor;
In this case, major design challenges like universal access were addressed with the other
challenges mostly being out of the owners/proprietor’s control like noise and encroached
privacy by the developing neighborhood infrastructure.
Case 2); For premises rented by the proprietor;
In this case, addressing major design challenges depended on the outcomes of the
negotiations between the owner and the proprietor before adapting the premise most of
which weren’t positive to address the design challenges hence the research recommends
how such design challenges can be addressed as well.
Keywords: Adaptive reuse, Repurposing, healthcare, design opportunities and challenges | en_US |
