Rotterdam's Transformation Potential: Transforming vacant office space into housing

This research aims to uncover the transformation potential of the structural vacant office space in Rotterdam to residential space. The office market in the Netherlands has become a replacement market. The result of this replacement market is that users can choose to rent the highest quality offices at the best locations due to the surplus of space This quantitative and qualitative mismatchresults in an increase of structural vacancy at the bottom end of the market. The Rotterdam office market may offer possibilities to reduce structural vacancy in a sustainable way. By way of transformation. Using this intervention method structural office vacancy may be reduced, and supply is added to its overheating housing market. However not all buildings are suitable for transformation.This is related to several influencing factors related to market-, location-, and building characteristics. In what way and to what extent can current transformation tools measure Rotterdam’s transformation potential of structural vacant office space towards housing? Many tools have been developed aiming to incorporate these factors. The Conversion Meter 2017 is one of those tools. This tool is used as a starting point to measure the transformation potential of Rotterdam’s structural vacant office space. By doing so the model is further tested and developed and additional parameters may be added, changed or discarded. After measuring, with using the adapted tool, Rotterdam’s structural vacant office buildings are then ranked and mapped in a geographic information system map (GIS Map) according to their transformation potential. With the insight these results give, more much needed transformations projects may be initiated to ultimately reduce office vacancy and increase housing supply.Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences | Management in the Built Environmen