Conversions
Renovated 19th-century sea forts hit the market
Live out your pirate dreams as the new owner of two Victorian-era sea forts.
Glorious church conversion can be yours for $2.6M
Built in 1906, the church located in the suburb of Northcote retains its original brick exterior, but the interiors have been completely gutted.
Gorgeous barn conversion can be yours for $680K
The renovation of the L-shaped residence imbues the farmhouse with a bright minimalist aesthetic that highlights the structure’s strong bones.
Gorgeous renovation turns old steam factory into modern office space
The architects retained the facade of the brick factory for the most part, preserving three of the brick exteriors and the two steam towers that soar into the sky.
Church-to-home conversion combines wow factor and comfort
The brick church dates back to the 1920s and incorporates vaulted ceilings and other original details like stained glass windows, and a corridor lined with antique reinforced doors.
Light-filled shipping container house cost just $36K to build
Las Vegas-based Alternative Living Spaces creates custom container tiny homes for under $40,000.
Old stone barn transformed into country home with wooden built-ins
Architect Frank Minnaërt outfitted the space with playful plywood built-ins.
Tiny apartment converted from concrete pipe looks surprisingly nice
Hong Kong architect James Law has an unusual solution for the city’s affordable housing shortage: Converted old water pipes.
9 projects that reimagine old buildings, from factories to firehouses
To see how different spaces are being repurposed in cities across the U.S., we’ve rounded up 9 creative adaptive reuse projects.
1950s cargo ship transforms into bright modern home
The formerly rusting hull now holds a sweet floating abode.
Snap up this darling caboose home for $52K
Get your tiny home dreams back on track.
Shipping container house now available on Amazon for $36K
Wisconsin-based MODS International is selling a one bedroom, 320-square-foot shipping container house on Amazon.
Picture-perfect holiday home on Swedish island is yours for $370K
Originally a church, the building was beautifully renovated in 2013, and comes with a converted military barracks building as well.
This stunning Neo-Gothic post office is now a hotel
The rooms on offer are available in sizes ranging from "letter" to "postcard" and "stamp."
Another industrial crane has been turned into a cool rental home
If one more disused industrial crane gets turned into a cool inhabitable space, we’re going to have to call it a trend.
Heavenly church conversion in Sweden can be yours if the price is right
Built in 1889, the old Baptist church is now an airy, open home, ready to embrace you with open apse and nave.
World’s largest startup campus opens in Paris
The 366,000-square-foot former freight station now features upcycled, glass-capped shipping containers as rooms.
10 cool homes converted from strange, unexpected spaces
Old barns and warehouses aren’t the one spaces ripe for a spectacular conversion. Check out these kookier examples.
London ironworks transformed into incredible modern penthouse
This converted ironworks in Shoreditch boasts original Gothic windows, gorgeous brickwork, and exposed steel beams.
Impressive school bus conversion can go off grid, too
You never knew a school bus home could look this good.
An Ohio city is turning a freeway into a forest
Akron plans to convert a decommissioned highway into a 35-acre park.
Who wants to spend a night inside of an industrial crane?
Thanks to some bonkers designers, the experience looks (and smells) way cuter than you’d think.
Inside an eco-friendly converted van filled with hidden features
Think living in a tiny mobile home means giving up storage and large items that you could only have if you had lots of space? Think again.
Couple transforms old school bus into solar-powered mobile home
They mostly used online construction tutorials and bus conversion videos to build out their space, and the result is impressive.
Gorgeous solar-powered home was converted from a former school
Not only were the original charms of the circa-1925 nursery preserved, but it now also boasts just the right amount of modern technology and polish.
Cool Parisian coworking space takes over former industrial building
Dubbed Deskopolitan, the space clocks in at 4,430 square feet, and includes a series of open work desks, meeting rooms, telephone booths, and a café. (There’s also a barber shop, because 2017.)
1851 cottage becomes sleek, modern student center at U Penn
1100 Architect designed this new nexus for international affairs students at U Penn in Philadelphia, turning a Victorian house into a work of sleekly contemporary architecture.
At prison turned cultural hub in Amsterdam, refugees are welcome
In the Netherlands, crime rates have been so low that prisons are being shut down from the lack of prisoners. But for the Bijlmerbajes prison in Amsterdam, the shuttered facility is finding new meaning through adaptive reuse.
Handsome 18th-century estate finds new life as hotel in rural Portugal
Over in Northern Portugal, local design studio PROD has transformed the Paço de Vitorino estate, former residence of the late heir to the Paço de Vitorino Count, into a 15-bedroom hotel that melds the old and new.
The converted industrial loft gets cool Parisian twist
In Paris, local firm Festen Architecture and Italian studio Amibis collaborated on this 1,830 square-foot loft near the City of Light’s Place de la République.
Tricked-out Victorian castle in the U.K. may be the coolest office ever
Forget over-hyped coworking spaces and Ikea-hacked offices, the new HQ for U.K. personal finance site money.co.uk is the one to rule them all. Take a peek inside.
London’s iconic red phone booths reborn as tiny phone repair shops
The British love their iconic red telephone booths. But in the era of smartphones and WiFi, they’re unquestionably obsolete. Now, a local phone repair company plans to turn a bunch of them into satellite outposts.
Beijing factory becomes artist’s live-work space in sleek conversion
This bright, airy live-work space makes use of the structure’s original skylights, exposed-steel trusses, and high, gabled ceilings, which clock in at nearly 20 feet tall.
Gorgeous 1800s mansion becomes sleek offices, apartments in Mexico City
Masterminded by local firm AT103, the run-down historic home—formerly a private home for a single family—today accommodates two restaurants, offices, and upper-floor apartments.
Barn, transformed, becomes gorgeous rustic home in Pacific Northwest
Seattle architecture firm MW Works created a woodsy retreat for a young family: a retreat hewn from the gorgeous bones of a gabled barn built in the early 20th century.
Converted live-work space was created entirely from salvaged materials
In an impressive feat of upcycling, designers Rolf Bruggink and Niek Wagemans have turned an empty coach house into a one-of-a-kind residence using materials salvaged from a demolished office building nearby.
Midcentury water cistern transformed into gorgeous modern home
The elegance of this Spanish home’s curved glass wall belies the structure’s original use as a stone water cistern. The building served for many years as a storage space—until a Madrid firm converted the structure into a glamorous home.
Converted basement makes a charming apartment for a designer
This lovely apartment in Cape Town, South Africa packs a colorful punch, making it hard to believe that it’s in fact the converted basement of the resident’s parents’ home.
Victorian storefront turned posh modern townhouse in London asks $3.9M
This posh 3,000-square-foot three-bedroom was recently revamped for modern living by London-based design consultancy Brinkworth.