Living spaces are important. They provide the basic need of shelter, and house the tools that you need to live your life everyday. But a lot of the spaces that are built these days are cookie-cutter cutouts of the same designs and features, built from scratch out of brand new materials and taking up more useable land. Repurposed buildings represent a step in the right direction, though, and stand as a creative and sustainable option for new living spaces.
No More Land Sprawl
Land sprawl: the incessant building of suburbs and shopping depots around a city’s core in an excessively spacious sort of way. You’ve seen it happen all around you as you drive out of a metropolitan area. The houses become larger and begin looking the same; the lawns get bigger; the shopping depots nearby are large, and there’s a McDonald’s around every corner. Repurposed buildings take the need of building “the new” on fresh soil, and house people in an already built-up area that needs a little TLC. The practice transforms the old into the new and relevant, and stops the need to start building in another location.
Conserving Resources
When a building is repurposed, it can keep a lot of the already existing materials, which saves a fair amount of new ones. Bricks, cement base, timber frame and wood floors can all be preserved and refurbished, saving money. Even more valuable is the preserving of unique characteristics that were created with the original building. Crowned ceilings and beautiful historic wallpaper are some of these features that can really add to a space. The downfall of this type of work is that it can take more effort to take down parts of the old and then build up the new.
Representing History in New Light
Repurposed buildings can shine new light on otherwise old buildings that were built for some obscure reason. These buildings are not only what they seem to be, like a condo. They preserve the history of what they once were, like a post office. Combine the two, and you have modernly historic post office condos. A new element and point of interest is added, or preserved, in what the building has become. They tie together old and new, and make them both relevant and beautiful.
Repurposed buildings make sense because they recycle what has become irrelevant or purposeless, as well as preserve the finer points of history. In essence, bring on more post office condos!
If you want to see more on post office condos, contact The Sorting House online at website by phone at 1-646-472-1318.
