The Spirit Factory is a compelling example of adaptive reuse, transforming a derelict industrial complex into contemporary housing and offices while preserving its architectural identity and material integrity. The project goes far beyond regulatory and heritage requirements, embracing reuse as a core architectural and environmental strategy.

Form
The project reinterprets an early-20th-century industrial site as a cohesive ensemble. All existing façades are preserved, and original windows are restored. Where structural interventions are necessary, dismantled brickwork is reused to ensure continuity of material and expression. More than half of the bricks in new extensions are reclaimed on-site. New volumes are designed as subtle additions, informed by the scale, rhythm, and detailing of the original factory buildings. Brick façades reference historic craftsmanship, while contemporary elements in cast iron, wrought iron, and Corten steel clearly articulate the transformation from industrial to residential use.

Function
The original buildings have been adapted into a diverse housing program, including one- to four-room apartments, three townhouses, and a distinctive 160-square-meter penthouse atop the office building. Dual entrances from both street and courtyard enhance circulation and activate the block. The inner courtyard is reshaped into shared social environments that support community life and reinforce the transition from a closed industrial site to an open neighbourhood.

Impact
The Spirit Factory demonstrates how adaptive reuse can significantly reduce embodied carbon, construction waste, and resource consumption. Large-scale material reuse, including bricks and structural timber repurposed into elements such as a pergola, forms the backbone of the project’s sustainability strategy. Meeting contemporary standards for daylight, acoustics, and ventilation within an existing industrial framework required close collaboration between architects, engineers, heritage specialists, and sustainability experts.

By creatively transforming outdated industrial architecture into high-quality housing, The Spirit Factory exemplifies adaptive reuse as a resilient, climate-conscious, and socially sustainable approach to contemporary architecture.