Going Back in Time to Repurpose with Adaptive Reuse

The 108-year-old Nash Hardware Building is now the first all-girls school in Fort Worth.

DALLAS—In contrast to the highly publicized construction boom, some of the most intriguing and impactful projects in the last few years have been rooted in repurposing existing—often older and smaller—building stock through adaptive reuse and historic renovation. Increasingly, Texas developers and architects are choosing sustainable building options in lieu new construction, and finding worth and creating value in old structures in the process.

The Dallas office of Perkins+Will has been involved in a number of projects in Texas that demonstrate this trend toward reimagining and reworking old buildings. Some examples include transforming the defunct Highland Mall into a new campus for Austin Community College, renovating the Union Bankers Building in Deep Ellum in Dallas that sat vacant for 20 years into a boutique hotel, converting the 108-year-old Nash Hardware Building into Fort Worth’s first all-girls school: the Young Women’s Leadership Academy, repurposing the historic General Tire manufacturing building into the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative in Waco, and relocating its own offices into the renovated 111-year-old landmark Dallas High School.