Renovation of offices: A survey of reasons, points of attention and obstacles in the Netherlands

Abstract

A research study was recently carried out at the Technical University (TU) in Delft into the renovation of office buildings in the Netherlands. Renovation is defined as follows: ‘Structural technical intervention in or on a building, by means of which the building is adapted to new functional and technical quality requirements, without the original functional purpose being changed.’ In this context, renovation must not be confused with redevelopment. In redevelopment, large parts or even the whole supporting structure may be demolished and the original functional purpose may well be changed. As a first step in the research, on the basis of the available literature, an inventory is made of the quantity (square metres of floor surface area) and the quality of the Netherlands stock of office buildings. This literature research reveals that no reliable quantitative and qualitative data about the volume of the stock are available. The research also made it clear that no data are available with respect to the number of renovation projects, the amount of money involved and the reasons for renovating offices in the Netherlands. To address this knowledge gap, the TU Delft undertook a renovation project analysis and involved a large group of principal clients commissioning projects, project developers and architects. The results presented in this paper are interesting for academics, policy makers and practitioners in and outside the Netherlands. International literature research by the author did not bring in new insights. Readers with knowledge of similar research abroad are invited to contact the author via e‐mail.

Citation

Vijverberg, G. (2002), "Renovation of offices: A survey of reasons, points of attention and obstacles in the Netherlands", Journal of Facilities Management, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 85-95. https://doi.org/10.1108/14725960310807791