Search Results (123)

Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) are increasingly integrated to support environmental assessment in the built environment. However, applications to existing and heritage buildings remain fragmented, and the contribution of Heritage Building Information Modelling (HBIM) to Life Cycle Assessment is still poorly defined. This study presents a systematic review of 41 peer-reviewed publications retrieved from Scopus and reported according to the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, combining bibliometric, thematic and workflow-oriented analyses. Studies were selected according to predefined eligibility criteria based on relevance to HBIM-LCA integration. Three main BIM–LCA workflow typologies are identified: manual/export-based, plug-in-based and IFC-enabled interoperability approaches. While these workflows have progressively improved automation and data exchange, their application to existing and heritage buildings remains largely scenario-driven and focused on comparing refurbishment, retrofit, adaptive reuse and reconstruction alternatives. The review shows that HBIM distinctive contribution does not lie in environmental calculation methods, but in its ability to structure knowledge related to existing assets, including conservation state, intervention history, information provenance, uncertainty and life cycle transformations. However, current HBIM information structures remain only partially aligned with LCA requirements, particularly regarding service life, end-of-life scenarios and knowledge management. Semantic technologies emerge as a promising pathway towards knowledge-level interoperability. Limitations are related to the heterogeneity of the reviewed studies and the predominance of qualitative evidence. Digital-Green Heritage Workflows integrating HBIM, LCA and semantic technologies enable more transparent, life cycle-oriented and sustainable heritage conservation. Full article

The transition toward urban-scale digital twin and smart city management requires survey-grade 3D basemaps, yet conventional documentation remains time-consuming and prone to inaccuracies. While Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) offers rapid 3D acquisition, capturing complex, GNSS-denied multi-story interiors frequently causes cumulative registration errors and isolated indoor–outdoor data silos. To address this, this study proposes a comprehensive typology-agnostic framework for developing high-fidelity digital twin basemaps. Treating the building as a unified spatial network, the methodology systematically mitigates error propagation through strategic linkage planning, rigid shell-first registration, continuous vertical core anchoring (via stairwells), and adaptive multi-source data fusion. Implemented on an adaptively reused heritage building, the developed basemap achieved an absolute georeferencing accuracy of 30.0 mm (RMSE) against an independent total station control network, alongside a mean relative error of 3.11 mm. Comparative analysis against legacy 2D CAD floor plans revealed simplified geometric representations and categorical dimensional deviations of up to 29.8 cm. Demonstrating its practical utility, the point cloud-centric geometric hub avoids forced geometric idealization, successfully supporting direct immersive visualization, architectural slicing (floor plans, sections, elevations), and multi-LOD algorithmic planar segmentation. This spatially constrained acquisition strategy bypasses legacy limitations, delivering a mathematically verified 3D reality capture essential for smart facility management, heritage conservation, and downstream semantic intelligence. Full article

Historic buildings occupy a sensitive position in contemporary energy and heritage management because they combine building-performance requirements, material-conservation constraints, and dynamic patterns of use. This study maps the broader historic-building literature at the intersection of energy-efficient restoration, building decarbonization, heritage conservation, and sustainable tourism, and interprets the resulting bibliometric structure with particular implications for historic stone places of worship. Records were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection and screened through a PRISMA 2020-aligned protocol, yielding 804 publications. Accordingly, the 804-record corpus represents a broad historic-building and heritage-management evidence base rather than an exhaustive dataset restricted exclusively to stone religious buildings. Performance analysis and science mapping were conducted using Bibliometrix, while bibliographic coupling and longitudinal thematic-evolution analyses were added to examine contemporary research fronts and their temporal continuity. Co-citation analysis identified two partially separated intellectual schools—European conservation microclimate and adaptive reuse management—whereas bibliographic coupling revealed five current research-front communities, including adaptive reuse and sustainability, microclimate-conservation-energy, and an emerging HBIM/digital-documentation front. Thematic evolution showed increasing post-2019 convergence of tourism and management with conservation and cultural-heritage research, but continued separation from technical energy and microclimate streams. The study therefore moves beyond descriptive rankings to identify structural fragmentation and three priority directions: integrated monitoring of visitor loads, energy, and conservation performance; HBIM-supported spatial integration; and stronger cross-national research collaboration. The findings are interpreted as bibliometric evidence and research-agenda signals rather than as causal proof of building or policy performance. Full article

Built cultural heritage in East Africa is often interpreted and taught through monument-based, stylistic, or externally derived frameworks that insufficiently account for the region’s overlapping environmental, cultural, historical, and socio-spatial processes. Responding to this theoretical and pedagogical gap, this article develops a regionally grounded theoretical model of East African built heritage as a layered system, with particular attention to Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Methodologically, the study adopts a qualitative, interpretive approach, combining a critical literature review, analysis of selected built heritage layers, and expert perspectives from East African and European/international respondents. The findings show that East African built heritage is shaped by five interrelated layers: environmental foundations, indigenous and vernacular systems, Swahili/coastal Indian Ocean urbanism, colonial reconfiguration, and postcolonial/contemporary transformation. These layers do not form a linear historical sequence; rather, they overlap, interact, are disrupted, and are reinterpreted through material practices, spatial transformation, memory, environmental knowledge, and everyday use. The article argues that East African built heritage is defined by a layered system that is hybrid, fragile, unevenly recognized, partly intangible, and negotiated. It concludes that architectural education must move beyond object-based conservation knowledge transfer toward competency building in historical interpretation, environmental understanding, community engagement, adaptive reuse, and critical design intervention. Full article

Larissa Castle of Argos in the Peloponnese represents one of the most significant fortified landscapes in Greece, reflecting architectural transformation and military adaptation from prehistory to the twentieth century. Amongst its parts, one of the best-preserved towers has recently regained much of its original form through partial restoration works, emerging as a dominant landmark within the castle and the wider Argolic landscape. This study investigates the complete restoration and adaptive reuse of the tower, focusing on the challenge of providing public access while respecting its historical and architectural integrity. Based on detailed architectural analysis, two alternative design approaches for vertical circulation and access to the battlement level are examined. The first proposal employs traditional materials and construction principles, whereas the second introduces a contemporary intervention through a lightweight metal spiral structure. The comparative assessment demonstrates how both solutions can facilitate visitor access, enhance the interpretation of the monument, and reveal the tower’s defensive operation and architectural evolution, while respecting the construction phases of the monument and the international principles of cultural heritage. The proposed reuse as an observation point capitalizes on the tower’s strategic position and exceptional panoramic views over the major archaeological landmarks of the Argolic plain. The original contribution of this study lies in the systematic comparison of two evidence-based intervention strategies—one historically referenced and one explicitly contemporary—within a common conservation framework applicable to similar defense monuments. Full article

Underground heritage spaces represent a distinctive yet underexplored asset of the built environment, characterized by stable microclimatic conditions, limited natural lighting, strong material identity and complex perceptual dynamics. Despite their potential for sustainable regeneration, existing adaptive reuse approaches often fail to establish explicit links between environmental diagnosis, heritage conservation and user-centered design. This study proposes an integrated human-centered framework for the sustainable adaptive reuse of hypogeal heritage spaces, structured into three sequential phases: multisensory environmental diagnosis, reversible architectural design and virtual reality (VR)-based perceptual validation. The framework is applied to a disused historic underground complex in Dugenta (southern Italy), where an underground cavity is being repurposed within a hospitality-oriented redevelopment project. The diagnostic phase combines LiDAR-based geometric acquisition, indoor environmental monitoring and acoustic analysis, translating measured parameters into sensory indicators and a diagnostic criticality matrix. These outputs inform the development of a reversible liner/shell architectural system designed to improve environmental quality while preserving the integrity of the heritage fabric. Finally, alternative multisensory design scenarios are assessed through an exploratory VR-based evaluation focused on perceived restorativeness and spatial experience. The results demonstrate how environmental data can be systematically transformed into traceable design decisions, supporting conservation, user well-being and sustainable heritage regeneration. The proposed framework contributes a replicable methodology for integrating environmental performance, heritage preservation and human-centered design into the adaptive reuse of underground built heritage. Full article

Adaptive reuse offers a sustainable means of balancing heritage conservation with contemporary use, yet most evaluation approaches continue to privilege physical conservation and functional performance over spatial experience and contextual integration. This study develops and applies the Layered Spatial Experience Analysis (LSEA) framework to address this gap. The framework comprises four analytical layers and twelve criteria derived through a structured synthesis of approximately thirty sources. It was applied through documentary and visual analysis to four historic waterfront hotels on the Bosphorus: Çırağan Palace Kempinski, Four Seasons Hotel Bosphorus, Six Senses Kocataş Mansions, and Sumahan on the Water. The author-based assessments were subsequently reviewed by three external academics using the LSEA evaluation protocol. Findings show that conservation and functional criteria alone do not fully explain adaptive reuse performance. Experiential qualities, including atmosphere, authenticity, and historical identity, together with contextual factors such as place identity, visual connection to the Bosphorus, and cultural visibility, are also important components of a multidimensional assessment. The waterfront context emerged as a shared strength across all four cases. The LSEA framework therefore provides a transparent and multidimensional framework for comparative heritage assessment and supports sustainable heritage management in line with Sustainable Development Goal 11.4. Full article

Industrial heritage sites have predominantly been examined through visual, material, and conservation-oriented frameworks, while the haptic and embodied ways in which contemporary users experience reused industrial heritage environments remain comparatively underexplored. Focusing on Tophane-i Amire Culture and Art Centre, a historically significant Ottoman industrial heritage site repurposed as a contemporary cultural and artistic centre, this study examines how material contact, bodily movement, and tactile encounters contribute to the sensory heritage experience. Rather than proposing haptic sensewalking as a new method, the study uses an existing sensewalking approach in a haptic-centred way within the specific context of an Ottoman industrial heritage site undergoing adaptive reuse. Sensory data were generated through in situ walking observations, embodied sensory narratives, tactile descriptions, researcher field notes, and post-walk reflective accounts. The findings suggest that, within this haptic-focused protocol, participants did not describe the site merely as a visual-historical object. Instead, they articulated Tophane-i Amire as an embodied haptic environment in which rough stone textures, participant-perceived coldness and material heaviness, spatial thresholds, uneven walking surfaces, and movement-based encounters made architectural space bodily noticeable. The study does not claim that ordinary visitors naturally prioritise haptic experience; rather, it examines what participants articulated when their sensory attention was deliberately oriented toward tactile, thermal, kinaesthetic, and embodied aspects of the reused industrial heritage environment. The article makes two main contributions. Empirically, it shows how participants described haptic experience at Tophane-i Amire through encounters with rough stone surfaces, participant-perceived thermal qualities, thresholds, floors, and bodily movement. Conceptually, it interprets industrial heritage not only as a visual or material object but also as an embodied haptic environment in which historical meaning is sensed through touch, temperature, movement, and spatial negotiation. Full article

As a vital component of cultural heritage, historic buildings carry multiple values, including historical continuity, construction techniques, and social memory. Their conservation and utilization are of significant importance for cultural transmission and economic development. However, existing research findings have long been dispersed across different themes, disciplines, and linguistic contexts, lacking a systematic integration and interpretive framework that links the entire conservation–utilization process, thereby constraining a comprehensive understanding of the field. Against this background, following the PRISMA guidelines, this study retrieved and screened 474 core journal articles published between 2005 and 2025 from the CNKI and the WOSCC. Using bibliometric and visualization analysis methods, and employing tools including CiteSpace, VOSviewer, Pajek, and Scimago Graphica, we analyzed publication trends, collaboration networks, disciplinary distributions, and knowledge structures, and conducted thematic mapping and cross-database comparison in conjunction with the management cycle articulated in international heritage conservation theory. The results show that publication volume in this field has generally exhibited a growth trend, and the research evolution has roughly undergone four stages: basic problem focus, emergence of digital technologies, digital transformation, and data-intensified assessment and intelligent applications. The research network presents a multi-centric pattern characterized by “fragmented distribution with localized clustering.” Cross-database comparison reveals that CNKI and WOS share common concerns in conservation, utilization, technology empowerment, and governance issues, but differ in thematic emphasis and methodological pathways. Based on the international heritage management cycle, this study maps out a systematic framework of “value recognition–risk assessment–conservation intervention–adaptive reuse–sustainable governance,” revealing the similarities and differences between the WOS and CNKI databases in thematic presentation and knowledge production pathways, and further identifies key issues including the insufficient independence of value research, inadequate methodological integration, weak post-utilization feedback, and the lack of a closed governance loop, thereby proposing future research directions. This study may serve as a reference for systematically understanding the overall knowledge and practical development in the field of historic building conservation and utilization. Full article

Adaptive reuse is widely used to extend the life of heritage and industrial heritage buildings, but its assessment remains divided between reuse potential, alternative selection, sustainability, post-occupancy performance, and conservation-based evaluation. This article develops the Adaptive Reuse Success Index (ARSI), a literature-derived framework for assessing adaptive reuse success as a multidimensional architectural condition. The framework was developed through a structured framework-development review and full-text coding of 31 studies, supported by a documented Scopus audit trail. Assessment concepts were extracted, normalized into codes, synthesized into themes, and translated into measurable indicators. ARSI comprises eight dimensions: Heritage Conservation Value, Functional Compatibility, Technical/Physical Performance, Environmental/Circular Performance, Economic Viability, Social and Community Value, Urban Integration and Regeneration, and Governance and Implementation Capacity. These dimensions are operationalized through a 40-indicator matrix with equal-weight scoring, literature-prominence sensitivity weighting, and non-compensatory safeguards. An illustrative application to Santralistanbul shows that the framework can separate strong heritage, functional, and urban performance from weaker or insufficiently evidenced social, economic, technical, and governance conditions. ARSI is proposed as an initial diagnostic framework rather than a validated universal index, offering a structured basis for comparative assessment and post-reuse evaluation in industrial heritage contexts. Full article

Amid shifting urban renewal approaches and industrial restructuring in China, small and medium-sized cities face the challenge of conserving industrial heritage through adaptive reuse. Drawing on gazetteers, planning documents, and interviews, this paper examines the transformation of the Anqing Baiqitun Cement Plant into a cultural and creative park across environmental, social, economic, and governance dimensions. The case is significant as a typical heavy industrial heritage in a smaller city, while the enterprise’s restructuring and relocation have produced a rupture in collective memory and identity. The study finds that minimal intervention in the heavy industrial remains achieved carbon sequestration and emission reduction, succeeded in ecological restoration, and attained financial viability by leveraging local markets and intangible assets. However, the industrial past has been selectively reconstructed, creating a divide between the former industrial community and the present one, partly due to an over-reliance on Authorised Heritage Discourse logic and insufficient collaboration with the existing enterprise. Participatory governance, driven mainly by government coordination and market capital, proved efficient but lacked public engagement. The paper argues that regenerating industrial heritage in small and medium-sized cities requires not only physical upgrading but also social mechanisms that enable public participation in conservation. Full article

Vernacular settlements retain tangible fabric and intangible knowledge that can support climate-responsive conservation, adaptive reuse, and urban regeneration, yet these dimensions are often assessed separately. This study applies a values-based conservation framework to examine how heritage significance is expressed through settlement morphology, material systems, environmental performance, community knowledge, and continuing use in two historic settlements and one contemporary neighbourhood in Oman. Heritage significance is interpreted through six interconnected domains: historical-continuity, architectural-spatial, environmental, material-technical, social-cultural, and functional-economic value. A comparative mixed-method case-study design combined field observation, photographic documentation, urban and architectural morphological analysis, semi-structured interviews, and building-performance simulation. The findings show that the historic settlements achieved greater built intensity through attached buildings, shared walls, limited setbacks, shaded routes, mixed functions, and layered public–private organization. Interview evidence associated these characteristics with privacy, shared-resource management, traditional construction knowledge, social continuity, adaptive reuse, and continued occupation. Simulation results indicated substantially lower cooling-energy demand in the representative vernacular dwellings, whereas the contemporary villas achieved higher daylight levels and thermal conditions closer to neutrality under mechanical cooling. The study concludes that vernacular heritage should neither be conserved as static physical fabric nor reproduced literally. Interventions related to tourism, infrastructure, accessibility, privacy, commercial reuse, and residential continuity should be negotiated among stakeholders. Full article

Within UNESCO’s framework for sustainable heritage, this study examines how community engagement shapes the conservation of religious architectural heritage and the continuity of cultural landscapes. Using Sanliqiao Catholic Church in Wuxi, China, as a case study, it explores how heritage value is produced through the interaction of everyday practices, place identity, and participation in governance. Drawing on 19 interviews, field observations, archival materials, historical images, and 216 online comments, the findings reveal how everyday spatial practices sustain the cultural landscape. These practices generate differentiated place identities among believers, residents, and commercial stakeholders. Such identity differences, in turn, influence uneven participation in heritage governance and shape how cultural value is experienced and distributed. Cultural landscape reproduction thus emerges as a dynamic process linking everyday practice, identity formation, and participatory governance structures. The study underscores the critical role of inclusive participation in heritage governance and contributes to broader international debates on socially sustainable heritage management, with implications for similar religious and urban heritage sites beyond the Chinese context. Full article

The purpose of this study is to examine the importance of architectural details and artefacts as cultural markers within the interior spaces of adaptively reused heritage buildings in Sofia’s historic urban centre. A comparative study was performed on three significant early twentieth-century residential buildings: the house linked to the former ‘Excelsior’/‘Asen Zlatarov’ cinema complex at Blvd ‘Christo Botev’ N85, the former residence at Blvd ‘Christo Botev’ N75, and the building at Blvd ‘Stamboliyski’ N36—the latter two have both been transformed into hotels. The research employs an interdisciplinary methodology combining archival research, field surveys, photographic documentation, 3D laser scanning, and comparative stylistic analysis. The study’s principal contribution is the development of a transferable analytical framework for classifying interior details by function (constructive or decorative), location (enclosing surfaces, fixed furnishings, vertical circulation), and material—a framework not previously applied to this building stock in the Bulgarian context. The findings confirm that authentic interior details—including stair railings, flooring patterns, gypsum cornices, ornamental plasterwork, heating appliances, and joinery—function as reliable cultural artefacts and markers of historical period and stylistic identity. These details serve as evidence for dating, authenticating, and analysing the evolution of architectural style elements. Preserving and integrating these elements into adapted interiors strengthens architectural identity and supports the sustainable reuse of cultural heritage for contemporary purposes. Full article

Fragmented point-based conservation limits the integrated protection and adaptive reuse of timber arch covered bridges. This study develops a quantitative decision-support workflow for identifying and evaluating heritage corridor networks, using 99 timber arch covered bridges in Northeastern Fujian, China, as the regional sample and three representative bridges for bridge-scale interpretation. The workflow combines spatial pattern analysis, Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) suitability modeling, XGBoost–SHAP-assisted resistance analysis, circuit theory corridor extraction, complex network analysis, and maturity assessment. The results show that the bridges form a significant clustered pattern with a Shouning primary core and a Pingnan secondary core. MaxEnt identified high-suitability areas of 1.857 × 10⁵ ha, accounting for 3.65% of the study area, mainly in the Shouning–Pingnan–Zhenghe border zone. The XGBoost–SHAP procedure was used as a secondary modeling step to translate suitability patterns into a composite resistance surface; it indicated that road proximity, elevation, nighttime light intensity, and distance to points of interest (POIs) were the main variables shaping the model output. Based on 27 selected heritage source sites, 75 primary corridors totaling 4078.22 km were identified, together with 33 pinch points and 27 barrier points. A corridor protection width of 7 km was determined as optimal. Network analysis identified Luanfeng Bridge, Longtan Bridge, and Denglong Bridge as important structural nodes and divided all 99 bridges into five river basin-related communities. Maturity assessment revealed a pattern of “one core, two belts, and multiple nodes” but also considerable functional disparity. The three representative cases are reframed as preliminary interpretations of model results: Luanfeng Bridge emphasizes landscape-integrity and visitor-pressure assessment, Denglong Bridge emphasizes route continuity and low-intervention interpretation, and Qiancheng Bridge emphasizes livelihood coordination and incremental rural tourism. This study provides decision-making support for advancing the integrated conservation of timber arch covered bridges and the synergistic development of rural tourism. Full article