Adaptive Reuse of Cultural Historical Values to Enhance Public Places : A case study of Artilleristallet in Gothenburg

Sammanfattning: The construction business has a negative impact on the environment, where the biggest impact comes from construction of buildings, material production and transportation. It is inevitable for a city not to construct new buildings as it expands and develops new needs. However, it is not always necessary to demolish buildings with an outdated function, to build new ones. To maintain the identity of a city, it is important to preserve its historical character. This can be done by revitalising cultural historical valuable buildings and environments through adaptive reuse. The concept of adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing a building for a new purpose rather than demolishing it. It gives new life to old buildings, offers them a chance to survive by changing their function and gives a greater understanding for future generations to relate with their history. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate how adaptive reuse of cultural historical values in the built environment can contribute to revitalisation of underutilised areas and create social and thriving places. To gain background knowledge to the subject, a literature review and document analysis was made. To investigate what factors contributes to success of a cultural historical project, a case study was done of the quarter of Artilleristallet in Gothenburg. Further, it is difficult to measure success through people’s perceptions and experiences of a place. Therefore, to help analyse and understand the case, a theoretical framework based on place theory was established. The framework was complemented by interviews and observations which helped lead to the results of the study. Two of the qualities that were found to contribute to the successfulness of Artilleristallet were preservation of its historical traits of character and its sense of place. Additionally, the businesses in the quarter complement and reinforce each other making it attractive and inviting for a wide range of people. Further, the preconditions found to be of importance for the successfulness of Artilleristallet were its cultural value and location. It was shown that having an extensive detailed development plan and good communication with and from the municipality was significant. Also, the close collaboration and communication between all actors involved in the project was shown to be important for the success. The qualities and preconditions found are all valuable but need the reinforcement of each other to create a social and thriving place.