Adaptive Reuse for Multifamily Housing: Volume 4 ... - InformeDesign

Implications
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Standards for minimum STC and IIC ratings vary,
with rental properties generally being allowed lower
values than owner-occupied properties. From a marketing
standpoint, though, values above the code requirements
will always be preferable.
Sound isolation is a particular concern in reuse
buildings because the floor and ceiling structure are
already in place and less can be done to attain required
standards. A common solution is to use carpeting
with underlayment pad, but in older buildings
with dense structures this will not be enough;
sounds will “ping through” sometimes a considerable
distance. Additionally, carpet is sometimes not preferred
in structures that have elaborate or decorative
flooring that can be featured as an amenity if left exposed
or for indoor air quality reasons. For example,
in a heavy timber structure with hardwood floors, a
designer’s first instinct is to feature both the floor and
ceiling, but this is would likely be an acoustic disaster.
Other common design responses can include additional
insulation, resilient channels, and/or multiple
layers of gypsum board on the ceilings. There are
also a number of products made with recycled rubber
that can be used as sound isolation under new hardsurface
flooring.
Design
There is perhaps no more critical task in adapting a
building for multifamily use than to exhaustively understand
the needs and desires of the potential residents.
This is especially important in adaptive reuse
because the pool of buyers or tenants for adaptive
structures is much smaller than for the larger housing
market. This process typically begins with an
evaluation of the basic programming elements, the
fine-grained market-driven requirements and desires
that any design process accounts for (e.g., the number
of bedrooms, the types of amenities).
Key to this process is recognizing the intangible aspects
of an adaptive reuse property and its capacity
to offer more than mere accommodation to potential
residents. This group will not be comparing an
adaptive project to a three-car-garage, mass-market
property in the suburbs. Rather, this population will
be looking for a building that reflects their values in
ways that commodity housing can not—from big-picture
ideas to the details and quirks of the particular
structure. They will value reuse as inherently more
sustainable than sprawl.
Amenity or eyesore?
Adaptive reuse further differs from a blank-slate design
in how the new use interweaves with the history
embodied in the building. Understanding how
this quality will attract potential residents can be
as simple as understanding whether they will view a
scarred, patched, multicolored “ghosted” floor as an
eyesore or as an intensely interesting record of the
building’s past lives. Either response is valid; what is
critical to the designer is anticipating the reaction by
thoroughly understanding the potential resident.
The quirky nature of reuse and the context of reused
buildings can give the residential units an air of customization
and individuality, though customization
may have only occurred incidentally. The design team
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