Preservation of existing buildings through methods of Operations Research

The revitalization of existing buildings is getting more and more important. We are facing a situation where in many cases there is no need to design new buildings because an increasing number of existing buildings is not used anymore. The most ecological procedure to revitalize these buildings would be through a continuous usage and by making few or no alterations to the stock. Thus, the modus operandi could be named a “non-destructive” approach. From the architectsi point of view, non-destructive redesign of existing buildings is time-consuming and complex. The methodology we developed to aid architects in solving such tasks is based on exchanging or swapping utilization of specific rooms to converge in a design solution. In this regard, it was examined whether solutions for reuse tasks can be produced automatically by the use of optimization processes in floor plan design. These solutions shall be produced by swapping of existing areas. The objective is to obtain feasible planning solutions by means of these computer-based processes, which will serve the architect as a basis for the further editing of the plans. The methodical basis for this procedure is formed by models from Operations Research. The design of the model developed relates to problems in logistics, for example, the loading in trans-shipment centers. It also has analogies to board games like Chess or Go. These games are based on a specific number of fields or crosses of grid lines which are occupied by various tokens. Occupation is subject to a variety of conditions or rules. Compliance to conditions and objectives is clearly defined by the use of these rules. The analogy to our model is the fixed grid, the limited possibility to occupy fields and the fulfillment of an overall goal, i.e. to win the game. Therefore the model does not alter geometric proportions or locations of rooms but changes their occupancy such that a new usage could be applied to the building