A Palimpsest Design Approach to Adaptive Reuse of Gas Stations

Abstract

Buildings are designed for social demands, but social demands change faster than our buildings can adapt, leading to a repeating cycle of construction and demolition. This cycle causes not only negative environmental impacts but also cultural ones. The concept of adaptive architecture is not new; many have studied, examined and responded to this topic from different angles, including structuralism, cybernetics, metabolism, and open building theorists. This thesis reviews previous theories, combines their strengths and avoids their weaknesses. Then, this thesis will apply the theoretical methods to a case study in the form of a gas station in Vancouver, British Columbia. Ultimately, The design will reflect the community’s needs by analyzing the latest social data and take a design-in-time approach to convert the decommissioned gas station into a decentralized community health center through a series of interventions in time to adapt to the community’s future needs.