Project Title Adaptive Building Structures for Increasing Resource Efficiency of Multi-Story Buildings in Urban Areas
Acronym Adaptive Building Structures
Project Description
Demographic changes, an evolving labor market, and economic fluctuations with shifting dominant industries call for buildings that can adapt to changing user needs and usage requirements. However, many existing building structures are not designed for such adaptability, resulting in demolition and reconstruction after an initial usage period — an increasingly common last resort. This practice contradicts the principles of sustainability in the construction sector, which are essential to support the energy transition and reduce construction waste.

High resource efficiency and longevity of buildings — extending beyond their typical economic lifespan — can be achieved through flexibly usable building structures, composed of a use-neutral load-bearing system and an intelligent façade. Equally crucial to long-term usability is the high-quality execution of building components, allowing for reconstruction or conversion and enabling multiple usage scenarios through adaptable interior layouts.

Assessing a building’s suitability for diverse usage scenarios is significantly more complex than current sustainability rating systems can capture. Therefore, this research project expands upon existing assessment criteria by examining and evaluating additional aspects related to adaptability and reuse potential.

The project involves three main areas of responsibility:

TU Darmstadt – Department of Design and Building Design: Object planning requirements for various typical urban uses

TU Dresden – Chair of Steel Construction: Structural implications and optimization

Transplan Technik-Bauplanung GmbH: Building systems design and optimization

For the assessment of multi-story buildings, requirement catalogues for different usage types and evaluation methods for fulfilling these criteria are developed. The findings are integrated into an evaluation matrix, which assesses the adaptability and conversion potential of buildings both per floor and for the entire structure, depending on the selected usage scenarios.

Evaluating the adaptability of buildings contributes significantly to their long-term usability. To support policy-making and real estate management, the project also develops methods for integrating adaptability into property valuation and formulates proposals for the regulatory implementation of adaptive multi-story buildings (responsibility: TU Dresden – Institute of Construction Management).
Coordination TU Darmstadt – Department of Design and Building Design
Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Architect Johann Eisele
Dipl.-Ing. Architect Benjamin Trautmann
Project Partners
Project Duration January 2019 – January 2021
Funding Research Initiative “Zukunft Bau” – Promote, Research, Develop
Project Website https://www.zukunftbau.de/forschungsfoerderung/projekte/1008187-1811/
Contact Dipl.-Ing. Benjamin Trautmann