Introduction

Across cities and towns worldwide, disused factories stand as powerful remnants of industrial heritage. While structurally resilient, many of these buildings remain underutilized, disconnected from contemporary urban life. The Adaptive Reuse Factory Hub competition invites participants to reimagine an abandoned or underperforming industrial factory as a vibrant, mixed-use community hub—preserving its historical character while infusing new social, cultural, and economic life.

This competition encourages innovative strategies that demonstrate how adaptive reuse can reduce environmental impact, retain embodied energy, and catalyze local regeneration.

Objective

The primary objective is to design a multi-functional community hub within an existing factory structure that:

• Preserves and celebrates industrial heritage

• Encourages social interaction and local entrepreneurship

• Supports creative, cultural, and productive activities

• Demonstrates sustainable, climate-responsive reuse strategies

• Acts as a catalyst for neighborhood revitalization

Participants must balance old and new, creating architecture that respects the past while serving present and future community needs.

The Building Program

The Adaptive Reuse Factory Hub may include a mix of the following functions:

• Community gathering spaces (exhibition halls, event spaces)

• Co-working studios / maker spaces / workshops

• Small business incubators or local production units

• Cultural spaces (galleries, performance areas, museums)

• Learning and skill-training spaces

• Cafés, food courts, or local markets

• Public plazas, courtyards, or semi-open industrial yards

• Administrative and service areas

• Adaptive structural additions or subtractions (if required)

Participants are encouraged to propose programs relevant to their chosen context.

Site

• Site to be selected by participants

• The site must be an existing factory or industrial building, abandoned or partially used

• Can be located in an urban, peri-urban, or rural industrial context

• Participants must clearly justify site selection, historical background, and urban relevance

• Adaptive reuse should retain major structural elements where possible

• Assumed site area, climate, and surrounding context must be clearly stated.