Reuse atlas

Lighthouse conversions

150 buildings in 21 countries that were offices, churches, schools, barracks or factories and now hold homes — 99 finished, 51 under way. Each one is here for a reason worth a look: who owns it, how it was paid for, what the homes cost, or what it saved.

Converted, or being converted

Start with why a project stands out — the ones closest to a housing co-op come first — then narrow by how far along it is, what the building was before or the country. Each project has its own page in the library, with its sources; every conversion project in the library is one click away.

Why it stands out

Former use

Homes added

Country

150 projects

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completed under conversion

CRCLR HouseCompleted 2023 · formerly industrial · storeys added on top
- Community or co-op ownership
- New financing or legal model
- Embodied carbon
A co-operative on foundation-owned land (hereditary lease) converted the Kindl brewery's barrel-loading hall and added cluster flats on top, reusing materials such as 120 steel beams from the old roof.
Berlin, Germany Empty buildings in Berlin
Cityloft C7Completed 2014 · formerly public administration
- Community or co-op ownership
- New financing or legal model
- Recognised (award or programme)
The city’s vacant social-welfare office became 21 homes for a self-organised building group, with a €300,000 urban-renewal start-up grant — cited by the federal programme as good practice.
Mannheim, Germany · 21 homes Empty buildings in Mannheim
GrethergeländeCompleted · formerly industrial
- Community or co-op ownership
- New financing or legal model
- Affordable homes
Residents saved the Grether foundry and machine works from demolition and converted the halls into low-rent homes and workspace; the financing model invented here became the Mietshäuser Syndikat.
Freiburg, Germany
Woonwerkpand TetterodeCompleted · formerly industrial
- Community or co-op ownership
- New financing or legal model
A former type foundry squatted in 1981, legalised in 1986: the residents’ co-operative rents the shell from a housing association and controls everything inside it — "control without ownership".
Amsterdam, Netherlands Empty buildings in Amsterdam
Gröninger HofUnder conversion since 2025 · storeys added on top
- Community or co-op ownership
- New financing or legal model
- Affordable homes
- Embodied carbon
A citizen co-operative is converting a 1963 city car park into 90 subsidised flats on a 75-year ground lease — the city keeps the land, the co-op keeps the rents down.
Hamburg, Germany · 90 homes Empty buildings in Hamburg
Le JulesCompleted 2026 · formerly office
- New financing or legal model
- Affordable homes
Two public landlords bought a hard-to-let office scheme off-plan under the Region’s housing emergency plan and turned it into 80 social homes, keeping the structure.
Brussels, Belgium · 80 homes Empty buildings in Brussels
Lebensplätze für Frauen, Loferfeld 58Completed 2025 · formerly office
- New financing or legal model
- Affordable homes
A former Lochhausen office became 33 permanent homes for older women who had lived without housing — private investment, a church charity and city running costs combined; keys handed over December 2025.
Munich, Germany · 33 homes Empty buildings in Munich
Collegium AcademicumCompleted 2024 · formerly hospital · new homes built beside
- Community or co-op ownership
- Affordable homes
- Recognised (award or programme)
A self-organised group took over part of the former US military hospital in Rohrbach: a refurbished hospital building now holds eight flats, six of them social rent, beside its timber-built residence.
Heidelberg, Germany · 8 homes
Casa Vittoria (via Portuense 220)Completed 2023 · formerly office
- New financing or legal model
- Affordable homes
The City turned the former office block of the Casa Vittoria complex into one cohousing unit and 11 mini-flats for 20 people, chiefly older people in housing difficulty, with EU PON Metro funds.
Rome, Italy · 12 homes Empty buildings in Rome
Habitat Groupé "La Commune"Completed 2023 · formerly industrial
- Community or co-op ownership
A resident group and its architects converted a former printing works in Outremeuse into nine homes and offices, opening up the block to recreate a shared courtyard.
Liège, Belgium · 9 homes Empty buildings in Liège
îlot Saint-GermainCompleted 2023 · formerly public administration
- New financing or legal model
- Affordable homes
- Recognised (award or programme)
State ministry offices in the 7th arrondissement became 254 social homes, made possible by a 68.6% "Duflot" discount on the sale of public land.
Paris, France · 254 homes Empty buildings in Paris
Röda OasenCompleted 2023 · formerly hospital
- Community or co-op ownership
- Embodied carbon
- Recognised (award or programme)
Residents acting as their own developer converted a listed 1932 hospital care pavilion in Sege Park into a collective house, demolishing as little as possible and reusing materials; finalist for Malmö's 2025 urban building prize.
Malmö, Sweden · 19 homes Empty buildings in Malmö
WIR aufm RevierCompleted 2023 · formerly public administration · storeys added on top
- Community or co-op ownership
- Affordable homes
- Recognised (award or programme)
A resident group under an umbrella co-op bought a former police station in 2019 and converted and extended it into intergenerational housing mixing subsidised and free-financed flats.
Dortmund, Germany · 23 homes Empty buildings in Dortmund
Ambassade (former Spanish embassy)Completed 2022 · formerly public administration
- Community or co-op ownership
- Embodied carbon
- Recognised (award or programme)
A resident group turned the former Spanish embassy into intergenerational cohousing with two solidarity flats, reusing doors, tiles and railway sleepers; be.exemplary 2018 laureate.
Brussels, Belgium · 18 homes Empty buildings in Brussels
Ninove 122 (former post office)Completed 2022 · formerly public administration
- Community or co-op ownership
- Affordable homes
- Recognised (award or programme)
A co-operative converted a former post office into low-rent intergenerational homes let through a social rental agency for 20 years; be.exemplary 2019 laureate.
Brussels, Belgium · 6 homes Empty buildings in Brussels
Cohousing InDrukCompleted 2020 · formerly industrial
- Community or co-op ownership
A former printing works was converted into an urban cohousing for 18 households, demolishing part of the structure to create a large shared garden; occupied since spring 2020.
Borgerhout, Belgium · 18 homes Empty buildings in Antwerp
NiKA.HAUSCompleted 2019 · formerly office
- Community or co-op ownership
- Affordable homes
- Recognised (award or programme)
A group of 42 turned the former Dinterhaus office building in the Bahnhofsviertel into a permanently unsellable, affordable home under the Mietshäuser Syndikat — the first completed project of Frankfurt's concept-award procedure.
Frankfurt am Main, Germany Empty buildings in Frankfurt am Main
Wohnen und Arbeiten im Anscharpark (Umnutzung eines Lazarettgebäudes)Completed 2017 · formerly hospital
- Community or co-op ownership
A building group saved the listed isolation pavilion of Kiel's former naval hospital, after other pavilions were demolished, converting it into about ten flats and the architects' own office.
Kiel, Germany · 10 homes Empty buildings in Kiel
13 ha Freiheit (Turley)Completed 2016 · formerly military
- Community or co-op ownership
- Affordable homes
A Mietshäuser Syndikat group converted listed building 472 of the former Turley barracks (1899) into 29 homes at €7.60/m², with some subsidised flats, for about €1,700 per m².
Mannheim, Germany · 29 homes Empty buildings in Mannheim
Hastings CommonsCompleted 2016 · formerly office
- Community or co-op ownership
- Affordable homes
- Recognised (award or programme)
A nine-storey office block empty since 1985 was bought into community ownership and reopened in 2016 with capped-rent flats and affordable workspace — the seed of Hastings Commons, World Habitat Gold winner 2025.
Hastings, UK · 6 homes
Bofællesskabet JernstøberietCompleted 1981 · formerly industrial
- Community or co-op ownership
An early Danish cohousing community: the old iron-foundry buildings in Himmelev were kept and converted into 20 homes of 38–135 m², with the factory hall as the shared heart.
Roskilde, Denmark · 20 homes
ufafabrikCompleted · formerly industrial
- Community or co-op ownership
In 1979 a group took over the vacant UFA film-copying works in Tempelhof, saving it from demolition and turning it into a self-run village where about 30 people live alongside culture and workshops.
Berlin, Germany Empty buildings in Berlin
De RavelCompleted · formerly public administration
- New financing or legal model
- Affordable homes
A municipal office was let on a temporary basis and turned into a mixed young-people’s community with shared kitchens and a restaurant — a model for using offices while their future is decided.
Utrecht, Netherlands · 180 homes Empty buildings in Utrecht
Le NidCompleted · formerly church
- Community or co-op ownership
- Affordable homes
CLT Brussels’ pilot: a disused parish centre turned into seven permanently affordable owner-occupied homes, with residents leading the design and co-ownership management.
Anderlecht, Belgium · 7 homes Empty buildings in Brussels
StadtteillebenCompleted · formerly school
- Community or co-op ownership
- Affordable homes
A group bought a listed primary school closed in 2012 from the city with the Mietshäuser Syndikat and converted it into permanently affordable rentals taken off the market.
Hannover, Germany · 16 homes Empty buildings in Hannover
WilMa19 (Magda)Completed · formerly office
- Community or co-op ownership
- Affordable homes
A former Stasi office block, later a district office, bought by its residents with the Mietshäuser Syndikat in 2012; rents stay around €5/m², a third of the local average.
Berlin, Germany Empty buildings in Berlin
VAS 13 (former primary school)Under conversion since 2021 · formerly school
- Community or co-op ownership
- Recognised (award or programme)
A group of friends bought a former primary school and adjoining buildings and is converting them themselves into cohousing; be.exemplary 2019 laureate.
Brussels, Belgium · 8 homes Empty buildings in Brussels
Antares, block CUnder conversion · formerly office
- New financing or legal model
- Affordable homes
A social-impact property company converts offices into homes leased to the commune’s social rental agency — private capital producing below-market rent.
Brussels, Belgium · 79 homes Empty buildings in Brussels
Former head office of Baugenossenschaft Bergedorf-BilleUnder conversion · formerly office · storeys added on top
- Community or co-op ownership
- Affordable homes
A housing co-op is converting its own empty 1960s head office into cluster flats with shared kitchens and lounges, partly for people needing support.
Hamburg, Germany · 32 homes Empty buildings in Hamburg
Former car park, rue NolletCompleted 2026
- Affordable homes
- Embodied carbon
A disused multi-storey car park was rebuilt by the city landlord as an 83-home social residence clad in timber — car storage turned into housing.
Paris, France · 83 homes Empty buildings in Paris
Luttre (former Diamant Boart factory)Completed 2026 · formerly industrial
- Affordable homes
- Embodied carbon
A former tool-making factory in Forest was converted into 63 social homes through a reuse-led renovation that kept the structure and reused materials.
Brussels, Belgium · 63 homes Empty buildings in Brussels
Pension de famille ServientCompleted 2026 · formerly school · storeys added on top
- Affordable homes
A former school lent by the Métropole was rehabilitated and raised to give 21 permanent homes to people leaving homelessness.
Lyon, France · 21 homes Empty buildings in Lyon
Porto Fluviale Rec HouseCompleted 2026 · formerly military
- Affordable homes
- Recognised (award or programme)
A listed former Air Force barracks, occupied by families since 2003, is being restored as 54 public rented homes for its existing residents plus shared spaces, under the national PINQuA programme.
Rome, Italy · 54 homes Empty buildings in Rome
44 rue de l’Amiral MouchezCompleted 2025 · formerly office · storeys added on top
A 1950s research-agency office near Parc Montsouris was restructured and extended upwards into housing.
Paris, France Empty buildings in Paris
Augustine’s Garden (Augustīna dārzs)Completed 2025 · formerly industrial
- Embodied carbon
- Recognised (award or programme)
Former workshop buildings in a central Riga courtyard were adapted into homes, keeping existing structures to minimise new materials; nominated for the EUmies Awards 2026.
Riga, Latvia · 32 homes Empty buildings in Riga
Caserne ExelmansCompleted 2025 · formerly military
- Affordable homes
A 1909 gendarmerie barracks in the 16th arrondissement, leased from the City, now holds social homes and supported housing in one of Paris’s least social districts.
Paris, France · 50 homes Empty buildings in Paris
Cohousing FioravantiCompleted 2025
- Affordable homes
The city turned the north wing of its 1936 wholesale fruit and vegetable market into 11 nearly-zero-energy cohousing homes at agreed rents averaging about €420 a month, run with the residents.
Bologna, Italy · 11 homes Empty buildings in Bologna
Former Peugeot garage, avenue ParmentierCompleted 2025 · formerly industrial · storeys added on top
- Affordable homes
A 1957 car garage, used as an emergency shelter while awaiting works, was converted into 63 homes, mostly social.
Paris, France · 63 homes Empty buildings in Paris
Hochbergerstrasse 158 (CoDeck)Completed 2025 · formerly public administration
- Affordable homes
- Embodied carbon
- Recognised (award or programme)
The Canton of Basel-Stadt kept its former environment office's structure, stripped it to the shell and converted it into 28 affordable flats under its Wohnbauprogramm 1000+, with shared and work space run by the association tonRaum; listed for the REAR Award 2026.
Basel, Switzerland · 28 homes
«A Nacional» building (Aliados 9)Completed 2024 · formerly office
- Recognised (award or programme)
The vacant 1919–25 headquarters of the A Nacional insurance company by Marques da Silva became apartments; nominated for the EUmies Awards 2026 and a 2025 Prémio Nacional de Reabilitação Urbana winner.
Porto, Portugal · 18 homes Empty buildings in Porto
19–25 rue BoissonadeCompleted 2024 · formerly office
- Affordable homes
A 1947 city-built office block was bought by the municipal landlord and rehabilitated and extended into social flats.
Paris, France · 20 homes Empty buildings in Paris
Ankru 8 lofts (former factory building)Completed 2024 · formerly industrial · storeys added on top
- Recognised (award or programme)
A Soviet-era factory production building was reconstructed into residential lofts; it won an Estonian architecture annual award 2024 and was nominated for the EUmies Awards 2026.
Tallinn, Estonia · 67 homes Empty buildings in Tallinn
Conjunto residencial do Convento do BeatoCompleted 2024 · formerly church · new homes built beside
- Recognised (award or programme)
Buildings of the historic Beato convent complex were rehabilitated into a residential ensemble; it won the residential category of the Prémio Nacional de Reabilitação Urbana 2026.
Lisbon, Portugal Empty buildings in Lisbon
Former Bürgerhospital ward buildingCompleted 2024 · formerly hospital
- Affordable homes
The city housing company converted a nine-storey hospital ward block into 136 homes, almost all subsidised — one of Germany’s largest hospital-to-social-housing conversions.
Stuttgart, Germany · 136 homes Empty buildings in Stuttgart
Former Pastoor van ArsschoolCompleted 2024 · formerly school
- Affordable homes
A housing association turned a former primary school into social rental homes, occupied since March 2024, as part of a programme converting schools into 50 homes.
Eindhoven, Netherlands Empty buildings in Eindhoven
Former Télécom Paris campus (rue Barrault)Completed 2024 · formerly school
- Affordable homes
A State engineering school vacated for Saclay was reworked by the municipal landlord into social and student homes with artist studios — one zone alone holds 22 flats and ten studios.
Paris, France Empty buildings in Paris
Karl-Krause-Fabrik (Wohnen am Parkbogen)Completed 2024 · formerly industrial
A listed machine factory empty since 1994 was converted into about 131 flats beside the Parkbogen rail-trail, letting from 2024.
Leipzig, Germany · 131 homes Empty buildings in Leipzig
Paris Magenta (former postal sorting building)Completed 2024 · formerly industrial
- Affordable homes
A 1965 postal sorting building near Gare de l’Est was converted into homes above a working post office and logistics base — industrial reuse that keeps city services.
Paris, France · 83 homes Empty buildings in Paris
Résidence DareauCompleted 2024 · formerly office · storeys added on top
- Embodied carbon
An obsolete office was turned into 92 homes with minimal demolition and a timber extension, presented as a low-carbon office conversion that "ticks every box".
Paris, France · 92 homes Empty buildings in Paris
ZEITRAUM Solec 22Completed 2024 · formerly office
Two linked office towers of 8 and 12 storeys were renovated into a student residence near the Vistula.
Warsaw, Poland Empty buildings in Warsaw
Bulevardi 31 (former chemistry buildings)Completed 2023 · formerly school
The Old (1899) and New (1949) Chemistry buildings of the former Helsinki University of Technology, later used by a university of applied sciences, became 77 central rental homes in November 2023.
Helsinki, Finland · 77 homes Empty buildings in Espoo
De Hillside (Paasheuvelweg)Completed 2023 · formerly office · new homes built beside
- Affordable homes
An outdated office in a monofunctional business district became mostly social-rent homes (217 of 233), showing private developers can deliver social rent through conversion at scale.
Amsterdam, Netherlands · 233 homes Empty buildings in Amsterdam
Former GESOBAU headquartersCompleted 2023 · formerly office
- Affordable homes
- Recognised (award or programme)
A state housing company turned its own former head office into senior housing instead of demolishing it; the project won the Deutscher Bauherrenpreis 2024.
Berlin, Germany · 66 homes Empty buildings in Berlin
WeinlagerCompleted 2023 · formerly warehouse · storeys added on top
- Affordable homes
- Embodied carbon
Non-profit Stiftung Habitat converted Coop's deep-plan 1950s wine warehouse, keeping its mushroom-column concrete frame, into 64 flats around interior streets — over 40% less energy than demolition and rebuild.
Basel, Switzerland · 64 homes
112 rue de Paris, Boulogne-Billancourt (office to housing)Completed 2022 · formerly office · storeys added on top
- Recognised (award or programme)
A small office building was renovated, raised and extended into a mixed building with homes — a replicable infill office conversion; nominated for the EUmies Awards 2024.
Paris, France · 7 homes Empty buildings in Paris
DUCHESSE (former industrial halls)Completed 2022 · formerly industrial · new homes built beside
- Recognised (award or programme)
Two industrial halls and a town house near the canal became a small courtyard housing ensemble; nominated for the EUmies Awards 2024, honourable mention at the Belgian Building Awards 2024.
Brussels, Belgium · 8 homes Empty buildings in Brussels
FUNARI 818 (FRANKLIN)Completed 2022 · formerly military
- Affordable homes
A former US Army troop barracks on the FRANKLIN conversion area became 38 flats, almost all with subsidised rents.
Mannheim, Germany · 38 homes Empty buildings in Mannheim
Morland Mixité Capitale (La Félicité)Completed 2022 · formerly public administration
- Affordable homes
- Recognised (award or programme)
The former Paris prefecture tower, a Réinventer Paris winner, became a vertical mixed neighbourhood with about 6,000 m² of social and 6,000 m² of intermediate housing.
Paris, France · 199 homes Empty buildings in Paris
Park West PlazaCompleted 2022 · formerly office · storeys added on top
- Affordable homes
Two office blocks empty for about twenty years became 86 social flats let to people on the council list — Ireland’s reference office-to-social-housing conversion.
Dublin, Ireland · 86 homes Empty buildings in Dublin
Rue Raphaël social homesCompleted 2022 · formerly warehouse
- Affordable homes
An abandoned industrial warehouse bought in 2016 under the Region’s Alliance Habitat plan became 13 social homes, mostly three- and four-bedroom.
Brussels, Belgium · 13 homes Empty buildings in Brussels
Veemgebouw, Strijp-SCompleted 2022 · formerly warehouse · storeys added on top
- Affordable homes
- Recognised (award or programme)
A housing association added social and mid-rent homes on top of a vast Philips warehouse instead of replacing it; nominated for the NRP Gulden Feniks 2023.
Eindhoven, Netherlands · 39 homes Empty buildings in Eindhoven
De Voortuinen (former Rijkspostspaarbank / Postbank head office)Completed 2021 · formerly office · storeys added on top
- Embodied carbon
- Recognised (award or programme)
The former Postbank/ING head office kept its whole concrete frame and gained terraces hung from it; it won the NRP Gulden Feniks 2022 in the transformation category.
Amsterdam, Netherlands · 94 homes Empty buildings in Amsterdam
Former church, FeurigstraßeCompleted 2021 · formerly church · new homes built beside
- Recognised (award or programme)
A 1921 church, rebuilt after the war, was converted into flats in 2021 — one of few Berlin church-to-homes conversions actually delivered.
Berlin, Germany · 8 homes Empty buildings in Berlin
Plesmanduin (former KLM head office)Completed · formerly office
- Recognised (award or programme)
The listed KLM head office, later a ministry until 2017, was restored and converted into homes with added outdoor spaces; nominated for the NRP Gulden Feniks 2025.
The Hague, Netherlands · 166 homes Empty buildings in The Hague
The Terraced Tower (former Erasmus insurance office)Completed 2021 · formerly office
- Recognised (award or programme)
A riverside office block on the Maas was redeveloped into a terraced residential tower of 340 apartments; jury selection, Rotterdam Architecture Prize 2022.
Rotterdam, Netherlands · 340 homes Empty buildings in Rotterdam
Caserne de ReuillyCompleted 2020 · formerly military · new homes built beside
- Affordable homes
- Recognised (award or programme)
A barracks bought by the City from the State was turned by its public landlord into a mixed-income quarter, reusing historic buildings beside new ones; UN-Habitat case study.
Paris, France · 582 homes Empty buildings in Paris
Castilho 203 (former office building)Completed 2020 · formerly office
- Recognised (award or programme)
An office building beside Parque Eduardo VII was converted to housing keeping its sturdy frame; nominated for the EUmies Awards 2022 — a luxury but replicable office-to-homes case.
Lisbon, Portugal · 19 homes Empty buildings in Lisbon
QvilleCompleted 2020 · new homes built beside
Listed former quarantine stables in farmland at Essen (Belgium) were restored, with lost wings rebuilt, as 44 near energy-neutral cohousing homes with shared pool, workspace and car-sharing.
Essen (Belgium), Belgium · 44 homes
Résidence BertelotteCompleted 2020 · formerly office
- Affordable homes
- Recognised (award or programme)
The city’s social landlord turned 4,400 m² of offices into 138 student homes; it won the European Responsible Housing Awards 2022 (innovation and fair energy transition).
Paris, France · 138 homes Empty buildings in Paris
Tuin van Noord (former Noordsingel prison)Completed 2020 · formerly public administration · new homes built beside
- Recognised (award or programme)
A closed 19th-century prison complex became a walled garden quarter of homes, keeping the cell wings; jury selection and second public prize, Rotterdam Architecture Prize 2021.
Rotterdam, Netherlands · 57 homes Empty buildings in Rotterdam
Ajurinkuja 1Completed 2019 · formerly office
A Leppävaara office building was renovated into 27 rental homes — a small Finnish office conversion run by a large rental landlord.
Espoo, Finland · 27 homes Empty buildings in Espoo
Fabra & CoatsCompleted 2019 · formerly warehouse
- Affordable homes
- Recognised (award or programme)
The city’s housing body inserted timber-built social flats into a 100-metre textile warehouse in Sant Andreu; FAD Architecture Award 2021 and EUmies Awards 2022 shortlist.
Barcelona, Spain · 46 homes Empty buildings in Barcelona
Fenix ICompleted 2019 · formerly warehouse · storeys added on top
- Recognised (award or programme)
A 1922 Holland-America Line warehouse was kept intact and topped with lofts carried on a giant steel table; it won the Rotterdam Architecture Prize 2019.
Rotterdam, Netherlands · 212 homes Empty buildings in Rotterdam
Former PTT equipment building, BinnenrotteCompleted 2019
- Recognised (award or programme)
A 1951 PTT telephone-equipment building, empty since 2007, became 20 apartments of almost 4.5 m clear height; jury selection, Rotterdam Architecture Prize 2019.
Rotterdam, Netherlands · 20 homes Empty buildings in Rotterdam
Fyrstikkalleen 17 (former match factory)Completed 2019 · formerly industrial · storeys added on top
The 1937 match factory at Helsfyr now holds 39 flats on the upper floors above a school — homes and a public school sharing one industrial landmark.
Oslo, Norway · 39 homes Empty buildings in Oslo
Park Hoog Oostduin (former Shell office)Completed 2019 · formerly office
- Recognised (award or programme)
A large, outdated Shell office in Benoordenhout was turned into more than 200 apartments rather than demolished; it won the NRP Gulden Feniks 2020 in the transformation category.
The Hague, Netherlands Empty buildings in The Hague
Ribeira 11 (former warehouse)Completed 2019 · formerly warehouse
- Recognised (award or programme)
An industrial warehouse on the Boavista landfill between Santos and Cais do Sodré was adapted into 37 apartments; nominated for the EUmies Awards 2022.
Lisbon, Portugal · 37 homes Empty buildings in Lisbon
The Cosmopolitan (former Assubel tower)Completed 2019 · formerly office · storeys added on top · new homes built beside
A neglected 1960s insurance tower by the canal was kept and converted into 156 homes rather than demolished — an early Brussels office-tower conversion.
Brussels, Belgium · 156 homes Empty buildings in Brussels
Wohnen in der Kirche (former Gerhard-Uhlhorn-Kirche)Completed 2019 · formerly church
- Affordable homes
- Recognised (award or programme)
A Linden church was converted into student and social flats rather than demolished; nominated for the EUmies Awards 2022 and the DAM Preis 2022.
Hannover, Germany · 31 homes Empty buildings in Hannover
ENTER Amsterdam (Joan Muyskenweg)Completed 2018 · formerly office · storeys added on top
Four office buildings were stripped to their frames, joined in pairs and raised into two residential blocks — a replicable technique for 1980s–90s business-park offices.
Amsterdam, Netherlands · 191 homes Empty buildings in Amsterdam
Gasholders London, King’s CrossCompleted 2018 · formerly industrial
- Recognised (award or programme)
Three conjoined cast-iron gasholder frames were reused to hold 145 apartments; RIBA National Award 2018 and EUmies Awards 2019 nominee.
London, UK · 145 homes Empty buildings in London
Integratives Wohnprojekt KlarissenklosterCompleted 2018 · formerly church · new homes built beside
- Affordable homes
- Recognised (award or programme)
Instead of selling it, the Archdiocese converted a Poor Clares convent in Kalk into low-cost homes shared by locals and refugees; Deutscher Bauherrenpreis 2020 for activating church property.
Cologne, Germany Empty buildings in Cologne
TD GebouwCompleted 2018 · formerly public administration · storeys added on top
The city’s former technical-services office was converted into 157 apartments and studios — part of the wave that made Eindhoven the Dutch leader in office transformations.
Eindhoven, Netherlands · 157 homes Empty buildings in Eindhoven
Jonker Lofts (former printing works)Completed 2017 · formerly industrial
- Recognised (award or programme)
A 1952 printing works with shop was saved and opened up into loft town houses facing its service yard; jury selection, Rotterdam Architecture Prize 2017.
Rotterdam, Netherlands · 4 homes Empty buildings in Rotterdam
Samuel’s House (former Samuel’s Church)Completed 2017 · formerly church
- Affordable homes
- Recognised (award or programme)
Denmark’s first church converted to housing: a 1936 church closed in 2013 now holds 34 non-profit student and family homes, featured by the Danish Architecture Centre.
Copenhagen, Denmark · 34 homes Empty buildings in Copenhagen
Store Kongensgade 53 (former printing works)Completed 2017 · formerly industrial · storeys added on top
- Recognised (award or programme)
A derelict 1931 functionalist printing works in a central backyard became 18 flats that keep its concrete frame and iron windows; nominated for RENOVER prisen 2019.
Copenhagen, Denmark · 18 homes Empty buildings in Copenhagen
The SiloCompleted 2017 · formerly industrial
- Recognised (award or programme)
A 17-storey grain silo in the old harbour was converted into apartments, keeping its concrete core — an iconic industrial-to-homes conversion, though at the luxury end.
Copenhagen, Denmark · 38 homes Empty buildings in Copenhagen
Wohn- und Gewerbehaus Schlotterbeck (former Citroën garage)Completed 2017 · formerly industrial · storeys added on top · new homes built beside
- Recognised (award or programme)
The workshop of a listed Citroën garage became homes around its mushroom columns, extended upward; awarded in Zürich’s "Auszeichnung für gute Bauten" 2016–2020.
Zurich, Switzerland Empty buildings in Zurich
Flexwonen EuropalaanCompleted 2016 · formerly office
- Affordable homes
- Embodied carbon
A housing association converted its own former office and showroom into 48 flexible homes, reusing fittings such as the office washbasins.
Eindhoven, Netherlands · 48 homes Empty buildings in Eindhoven
PARAGON Apartments (former hospital)Completed 2016 · formerly hospital · storeys added on top · new homes built beside
- Recognised (award or programme)
A Prenzlauer Berg hospital complex (built in 1912 as a school) was converted into about 217 flats with neighbourhood uses; nominated for the Deutscher Bauherrenpreis 2018.
Berlin, Germany · 217 homes Empty buildings in Berlin
Apartments in the Constable SchoolCompleted 2015 · formerly military
- Recognised (award or programme)
A 1939 naval constable school on Margretheholm, empty for decades, was refurbished into 84 affordable student apartments for a pension fund — reuse of military-educational heritage for youth housing.
Copenhagen, Denmark · 84 homes Empty buildings in Copenhagen
One Athens (former Doxiadis office building)Completed 2014 · formerly office
- Recognised (award or programme)
The modernist offices of Doxiadis Associates and the Athens Technological Institute on Lycabettus became an apartment building; nominated for the EUmies Awards 2015.
Athens, Greece · 26 homes Empty buildings in Athens
Savonnerie HeymansCompleted 2011 · formerly industrial · new homes built beside
- Affordable homes
The Brussels CPAS bought a contaminated soap-factory site and, through a design competition, kept and restructured its 19th-century buildings and chimney alongside new blocks for 42 social homes.
Brussels, Belgium · 42 homes Empty buildings in Brussels
BaumannkerkCompleted · formerly church · storeys added on top
A post-war church was converted into 33 homes while keeping its structure, with a café and shop for the neighbourhood.
Rotterdam, Netherlands · 33 homes Empty buildings in Rotterdam
Bundesallee 199 assisted shared flatCompleted · formerly office
An empty Wilmersdorf office now houses a care-supported shared flat — a small-scale model for using vacant office floors as assisted housing.
Berlin, Germany Empty buildings in Berlin
Former Collège SerinCompleted · formerly school
A vacant city-owned secondary school became 36 student homes — one of Lyon’s reuses of its own empty buildings.
Lyon, France · 36 homes Empty buildings in Lyon
Former Knappschaft administration, WerderstraßeCompleted · formerly public administration
A former social-insurer administration block in the Belgian Quarter was converted into flats — one of very few office conversions completed in Cologne.
Cologne, Germany Empty buildings in Cologne
Former maternity clinic Joli CoeurCompleted · formerly hospital · new homes built beside
A listed brick hospital closed in 2005 now holds flats alongside new buildings — a typical hospital-site reuse that keeps the heritage core.
Berlin, Germany Empty buildings in Berlin
Former Telegraph Office, Börseplatz 1Completed · formerly public administration · storeys added on top
The historic central telegraph office was converted into flats — heritage public-building reuse, at the luxury end.
Vienna, Austria · 39 homes Empty buildings in Vienna
Nijenoord (former Hogeschool Utrecht building)Completed · formerly school
A 1959 office later used by the university of applied sciences, empty since 2016, became 195 rental flats within about 15 months.
Utrecht, Netherlands · 195 homes Empty buildings in Utrecht
Springville HouseCompleted · formerly office · storeys added on top · new homes built beside
- Affordable homes
- Recognised (award or programme)
Cork’s first office-to-homes scheme: a derelict 1960s office became 35 age-friendly social homes for right-sizing older people, winning an Irish Construction Excellence Award.
Cork, Ireland · 35 homes Empty buildings in Cork
ZIN (former World Trade Center 1 & 2)Completed · formerly office
- Embodied carbon
- Recognised (award or programme)
Two 1970s office towers were converted rather than demolished, with most materials inventoried, reused or recycled under Cradle to Cradle — a European reference for circular conversion.
Brussels, Belgium Empty buildings in Brussels
Zuider Carré (former Zuiderziekenhuis)Completed · formerly hospital
- Recognised (award or programme)
A 1930s hospital complex was saved by a housing association and a heritage developer and converted into 72 flats; entered for the Rotterdam Architecture Prize 2026.
Rotterdam, Netherlands · 72 homes Empty buildings in Rotterdam
Ancien Crédit municipal de Nantes — logements sociauxUnder conversion since 2026 · formerly office
- Affordable homes
The listed 1894 municipal pawnbroker's bank, later empty city offices, is being converted into 32 social rented homes in the historic centre under an 80-year rehabilitation lease to the public landlord.
Nantes, France · 32 homes Empty buildings in Nantes
Casa Lamar (Cedaceros 9)Under conversion since 2026 · formerly office
An old office building in the Barrio de las Letras is being converted into flats — a central-Madrid office conversion, though at the luxury end.
Madrid, Spain · 22 homes Empty buildings in Madrid
Caserne Jacques Vion (former fire station)Under conversion since 2026 · formerly public administration · new homes built beside
- Affordable homes
A listed 1970s fire station by Pierre Debeaux is being converted into homes for sale, assisted ownership and social rent; works since April 2026.
Toulouse, France · 96 homes Empty buildings in Toulouse
Cœur Paris (former AP-HP headquarters)Under conversion since 2026 · formerly public administration
- Affordable homes
The 30,000 m² headquarters of the Paris hospital authority, by the Hôtel de Ville, is being converted with social homes and young-worker studios; completion expected end of 2028.
Paris, France · 98 homes Empty buildings in Paris
Demo HubUnder conversion since 2026 · formerly school
- Affordable homes
- Recognised (award or programme)
A leather-industry vocational school, empty since 2007, is being converted into 26 low-energy affordable rental flats — Budapest's first new social housing in 25 years, funded by the EU Urban Initiative.
Budapest, Hungary · 26 homes Empty buildings in Budapest
Former Johnson & Johnson headquartersUnder conversion since 2026 · formerly office
A suburban corporate headquarters is being reworked into about 250 flexible rental units — the office-park-to-rental model now spreading in Madrid.
Madrid, Spain · 250 homes Empty buildings in Madrid
Maxstraße 3 office-to-loftsUnder conversion since 2026 · formerly office
A seven-storey Wedding office is being converted to rental lofts from April 2026, with first tenants due within a year — a quick-turnaround office conversion.
Berlin, Germany Empty buildings in Berlin
Royal Botanic (former Gesù convent)Under conversion since 2026 · formerly church · new homes built beside
After twenty years of vacancy and squatting, conversion of the Jesuit convent and church site officially began in September 2026.
Brussels, Belgium · 57 homes Empty buildings in Brussels
Tersud (Montaudran)Under conversion since 2026 · formerly office
- Affordable homes
Offices empty since 2018 are being converted into 232 affordable homes sold to two Action Logement landlords; works started March 2026.
Toulouse, France · 232 homes Empty buildings in Toulouse
Torre Castelló (former Finance Ministry offices)Under conversion since 2026 · formerly public administration
A ministry tower sold at state auction in 2023 is being rebuilt as a residential tower — the largest residential refurbishment licensed in Madrid in 2026.
Madrid, Spain · 158 homes Empty buildings in Madrid
Barre Cassan (Jussieu campus)Under conversion since 2025 · formerly school
- Affordable homes
A university teaching block empty since 2017 is being converted by the city’s landlord into almost 600 social student homes; works launched August 2025, handover 2030.
Paris, France · 581 homes Empty buildings in Paris
Former ATM bus depot, viale ZaraUnder conversion since 2025 · formerly industrial
- Affordable homes
The city transport company sold its 1930s Isola bus depot for homes including capped-rent flats for its own staff; clean-up started June 2025.
Milan, Italy Empty buildings in Milan
Former Caserma MameliUnder conversion since 2025 · formerly military · new homes built beside
- Affordable homes
A barracks empty for a quarter of a century is being remediated for a quarter where over half the homes are social; six historic barracks buildings are kept.
Milan, Italy Empty buildings in Milan
NOI AvenueUnder conversion since 2025 · formerly office
A brutalist office block in Bezuidenhout is being converted into 221 homes; building started April 2025 with the rentals pre-sold to an institutional fund.
The Hague, Netherlands · 221 homes Empty buildings in The Hague
THE FLAG NippesUnder conversion since 2025 · formerly public administration · storeys added on top
- Embodied carbon
A 1980 federal administration block (customs, constitutional-protection office) was kept and topped with timber storeys; topping-out August 2025, occupancy early 2026.
Cologne, Germany · 137 homes Empty buildings in Cologne
Tour Bretagne reconversionUnder conversion since 2025 · formerly office
- Embodied carbon
The 144-metre 1976 office tower that dominates central Nantes, closed since 2020, is being converted into about 200 homes; strip-out and asbestos removal began autumn 2025, keeping the frame saves about 7,000 t CO₂.
Nantes, France · 200 homes Empty buildings in Nantes
Via Edolo 19Under conversion since 2025 · formerly public administration
A 1950s municipal registry office sold by the City at auction in 2021 is being converted into homes with new loggias; works started March 2025.
Milan, Italy Empty buildings in Milan
Former INPS office, via Igino GiordaniUnder conversion since 2024 · formerly office
An empty social-security office in Verderocca is being stripped out for a 210-bed student residence, works started December 2024.
Rome, Italy Empty buildings in Rome
Oxy (former Centre Monnaie tower)Under conversion since 2024 · formerly public administration
The 1970s City of Brussels administrative tower above the Monnaie is being converted into a mixed scheme with homes; works began in February 2024.
Brussels, Belgium Empty buildings in Brussels
6ème Art / Îlot Lafayette (former Areva-Framatome head office)Under conversion since 2023 · formerly office
- Affordable homes
A 1970s office tower near Part-Dieu is being converted into about a hundred homes, almost half social — a large mixed-tenure office conversion in a French regional city.
Lyon, France · 105 homes Empty buildings in Lyon
Finstraat (former industrial building)Under conversion since 2021 · formerly industrial
- Embodied carbon
- Recognised (award or programme)
A small Molenbeek workshop and worker’s house are being turned into collective homes built largely from bricks salvaged on site; be.exemplary 2018 laureate.
Brussels, Belgium Empty buildings in Brussels
19 rue des BernardinsUnder conversion · formerly office
- Affordable homes
A 19th-century building used as university offices is being fitted out as supported housing in the Latin Quarter, one of the first sites in the City’s office-conversion call.
Paris, France · 23 homes Empty buildings in Paris
Bethanienkirche WeißenseeUnder conversion · formerly church · new homes built beside
The ruined tower of a war-damaged church is being fitted with homes beside a new wing, completion expected end of 2026 — reuse of a heritage fragment rather than demolition.
Berlin, Germany · 17 homes Empty buildings in Berlin
Flierbosdreef office conversionUnder conversion · formerly office · storeys added on top
- Affordable homes
A 1992 office block of 16,500 m² is being turned into almost 400 social and mid-rent flats with shared ground-floor facilities — one of the larger Dutch office-to-rental conversions.
Amsterdam, Netherlands · 397 homes Empty buildings in Amsterdam
Former 1921 kindergarten, DuindorpUnder conversion · formerly school
- Affordable homes
A 1921 kindergarten unused as a school since 1972 is being converted into social rentals reserved for key workers.
The Hague, Netherlands · 16 homes Empty buildings in The Hague
Former armed-forces building, Avenida de FrançaUnder conversion · formerly military
- Affordable homes
A fenced-off military recruitment building, empty for eight years and the rallying point of a public-housing campaign, is being converted into 40 affordable rentals — nearly finished in September 2026.
Porto, Portugal · 40 homes Empty buildings in Porto
Former Bank of Ireland, Bridge StreetUnder conversion · formerly office
Upper floors of a bank branch empty since 2013 are being turned into flats — the "living over the shop" model Cork needs for its vacant centre.
Cork, Ireland · 12 homes Empty buildings in Cork
Former furniture factory, Maybachufer 48Under conversion · formerly industrial · new homes built beside
- Affordable homes
A municipal housing company is turning a decayed, listed 1907 furniture factory in Neukölln into 160 rental flats by 2029.
Berlin, Germany · 160 homes Empty buildings in Berlin
Former Globus publishing and print worksUnder conversion · formerly industrial
Long-empty listed offices and print works of a party publisher are being converted into about 160 flats.
Vienna, Austria · 160 homes Empty buildings in Vienna
Former large tax office (Hollands Spoor)Under conversion · formerly public administration
A tax office empty above its ground floor since 2012 — long a symbol of vacancy — is finally being built out as 374 homes, most already sold.
The Hague, Netherlands · 374 homes Empty buildings in The Hague
Former school, BoylestraatUnder conversion · formerly school
- Affordable homes
An old school in the Valkenboskwartier is being turned into 24 social homes for young adults while keeping its school appearance; tenants were due "soon" in May 2026.
The Hague, Netherlands · 24 homes Empty buildings in The Hague
Kista Square Garden (former Ericsson offices)Under conversion · formerly office · storeys added on top · new homes built beside
- Embodied carbon
A former Ericsson office in Kista is being rebuilt into 853 homes keeping frames, façades and stairwells, with a climate comparison against new build; first rentals due 2026.
Stockholm, Sweden · 853 homes Empty buildings in Stockholm
Klöpperhaus (AJOUR)Under conversion · formerly department store
A listed department store on Mönckebergstraße is being remodelled into a mixed-use building that brings homes back into Hamburg’s shopping street, due mid-2026.
Hamburg, Germany Empty buildings in Hamburg
livinit (Lyoner Straße 11)Under conversion · formerly office
A 41-metre 1980s office in the Lyoner Quartier is becoming staff housing for the hotel and catering trade — employer-linked homes in a former monofunctional office district.
Frankfurt am Main, Germany · 375 homes Empty buildings in Frankfurt am Main
M-HouseUnder conversion · formerly office
A former office near Kubánské náměstí rebuilt as flats for sale, reported due by the end of 2025.
Prague, Czechia Empty buildings in Prague
MO-CHA HOMEUnder conversion · formerly office
An older Pankrác office building is being reconstructed as rental housing — part of the first wave of office-to-homes conversions in Prague.
Prague, Czechia · 91 homes Empty buildings in Prague
New7 (former Galeria Kaufhof N7)Under conversion · formerly department store · storeys added on top
- Embodied carbon
A closed Kaufhof store is being rebuilt with timber-hybrid flats on its upper floors — conversion under way since 2024, first tenants Q4 2026.
Mannheim, Germany · 77 homes Empty buildings in Mannheim
Oskar-Sommer-Straße 15–17 (supermarket with flats)Under conversion · formerly office · storeys added on top
A six-storey office ensemble is getting a discount supermarket below and 83 flats above, due August 2026 — a retailer-led model that could be repeated on many sites.
Frankfurt am Main, Germany · 83 homes Empty buildings in Frankfurt am Main
Q45 (former Bundeswehr high-rise)Under conversion · formerly public administration · new homes built beside
- Affordable homes
- Recognised (award or programme)
The municipal landlord bought an empty federal military tower through the city’s first-access option and is converting it into subsidised youth housing at €6.50–7.20/m²; an Interreg North Sea pilot.
Bremen, Germany · 117 homes Empty buildings in Bremen
Quartier Wandsbek Markt (former Karstadt)Under conversion · formerly department store · new homes built beside
A listed department store is being rebuilt and extended into a mixed quarter with 126 flats and the new district office — a template for the many empty Karstadt buildings.
Hamburg, Germany · 126 homes Empty buildings in Hamburg
Royal Sá da Bandeira (former Banco Borges & Irmão HQ)Under conversion · formerly office
A 1960s bank head office in the Baixa is being converted into flats, due December 2026 — central office-to-homes reuse, at the luxury end.
Porto, Portugal · 8 homes Empty buildings in Porto
Schäfergasse 33Under conversion · formerly office
- Affordable homes
A city-centre office is being rebuilt as 64 social flats with on-site advice services — social housing created inside the existing stock in the heart of Frankfurt.
Frankfurt am Main, Germany · 64 homes Empty buildings in Frankfurt am Main
Spreequartier SpindlersfeldUnder conversion · formerly industrial · storeys added on top
Historic industrial buildings on a 24,300 m² riverside plot are being refurbished and extended into about 500 flats — partly finished, the rest under construction.
Berlin, Germany · 500 homes Empty buildings in Berlin
UsquareUnder conversion · formerly military
- Affordable homes
- Recognised (award or programme)
3.9 ha of 1870s barracks are being turned by the Region into a mixed university quarter with social, affordable and student homes; completion expected 2031.
Brussels, Belgium · 176 homes Empty buildings in Brussels
Via Nizzoli 8 (former Capgemini offices)Under conversion · formerly office
A real-estate fund is converting a former IT-company office into 72 flats, one of the first fund-led office conversions in Milan’s periphery.
Milan, Italy · 72 homes Empty buildings in Milan
ZAC Saint-Vincent-de-PaulUnder conversion · formerly hospital · new homes built beside
- Affordable homes
A hospital vacated in 2012 is becoming a "solidarity eco-district"; most old buildings are converted, including a boiler house turned into a 25-flat boarding house.
Paris, France · 600 homes Empty buildings in Paris
Żurawia 8Under conversion · formerly office
A two-wing city-centre office is being converted into 69 flats while keeping its courtyard layout — one of Warsaw’s first central office-to-homes conversions.
Warsaw, Poland · 69 homes Empty buildings in Warsaw

What counts as a lighthouse

An existing building that was not housing — an office, a church, a school, barracks, a hospital, a factory or a store — converted into homes, or into mixed use that includes homes. A project counts as under way only once building work has started, never on a permit or an announcement. And it stands out for at least one reason: the homes are owned by a cooperative or the community, it found a new way to finance or own the homes, the homes are affordable, it saves embodied carbon, or an award or public programme has recognised it. We found them in local news, council records and award lists, and every fact on a project's page carries its source. See also Turning empty offices into homes.