The adaptive reuse of the former Thesen Island power station : a case study

Abstract

In the developed Western world, the need to preserve buildings, including industrial buildings, is well established, and the many charters that exist for guidance for preservation of the built environment point to the necessity of preservation. It can be posited that many of South Africa buildings with industrial architectural heritage are being lost either through neglect, obsolescence, demolition or vandalisation. At an international conference, David Worth, the sole South African representative for the International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage (TICCIH), stated that South Africa‟s industrial heritage has been neglected by the public, by professionals and academics, and by commercial and political interests. Läuferts and Mavunganidze make the point that South Africa continues to lag behind other countries in the preservation of and declaration of its industrial heritage. The purpose of this research was to investigate if adaptive reuse is a successful strategy to preserve industrial architectural heritage in South Africa. A further aim was to investigate whether adaptive reuse can be considered sustainable or „green‟ (in terms of the UN‟s sustainable development goals)