Abstract
Handbooks on strategic real estate management are generally based on four strategies for functional adjustment of the building: conversion, expansion, renovation and adaptive reuse. And on a strategic level, this classification in adjustment strategies does work for real estate in general. But when looking at Dutch primary schools as a specific type of real estate, reality can be and is more nuanced. Other accommodation strategies came to the fore in a study into the spatial adaptation of primary schools and children’s centres in the Netherlands. An analysis of 100 school buildings studied in the Atlas of School Building (published in Dutch as Scholenbouwatlas) revealed that nine main strategies were prevalent in practice. This refinement of the strategies fits (better) with integrated conversion actions of primary schools in which several aspects are solved together. In the following article these strategies are analysed and discussed in a theoretical context. The conclusion of the analyses is that the existing general models in the strategic handling of the building stock in the case of specific real estate of primary schools can be refined.
Highlights
Many handbooks on real-estate strategies for the adaptation of buildings mention four strategies: conversion, expansion, renovation and adaptive reuse
This paper aims to reveal that a more nuanced strategy offers a more realistic view on accommodation strategies, than the often used general strategies conversion, expansion, renovation and adaptive reuse
The main research question in this paper is: how does general conversion strategies relate with the strategies that appeared in the 100 case studies in the Atlas of School Building? To answer this question the authors analysed the conversion strategies that appeared in the 100 case studies with insights from literature of the last ten years on this subject
Summary
Many handbooks on real-estate strategies for the adaptation of buildings mention four strategies: conversion, expansion, renovation and adaptive reuse (for example: Vermeulen & Wieman, 2016). An analysis of the practice of the adaptation of 100 primary schools in the Netherlands made clear that in many cases the four strategies appeared to be too schematic and theoretical. Many more diffuse forms occurred in the schools studied. Based on material-spatial criteria, nine strategies that have appeared in practice could be defined, which were further investigated in this study. Why is the theme of conversion strategies for primary schools of significance? Some commentators argue that the almost obvious desire to improve the educational process by building a new school is obsolete, or at least not thought through. Often a conversion of an existing school is a very good solution, or even offers (economic and spatial) advantages over new buildings. Conversion strategies of primary school buildings in specific contexts
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